


A hymn for tomorrow

by pupshori



Category: Sexy Zone
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Humor, M/M, Romance, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:45:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8212610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pupshori/pseuds/pupshori
Summary: The year is 1630. There are two empires spread across East Asia, one led by prince Sato Shori and the other led by prince Kikuchi Fuma. They both coexist in peace but there have always been tensions between the two royal families. Shori wants to conquer Fuma’s kingdom at all cost and he has a brilliant sword fighter named Nakajima Kento who will finally help him fulfil his life goal. Shori sends Kento on a journey to Fuma’s kingdom as an alleged slave to make up for the tensions between their kingdoms, but no one except Kento himself and Shori’s court nobility knows that in truth Kento has more talents than just being a good servant. His plan is to get as close as possible to prince Fuma, so he can assassinate him and return home as a hero. But having Fuma as a target isn’t as easy as he thought it would be...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> P.S.: I'm not a historian, this is just fiction and it's not accurate to real Japanese history. First chapter is basically just an introduction to the story, I hope it all makes sense like it does in my head hehe (sorry FumaKen will start in chapter 2)
> 
> I dedicate this story to my princess Gina who has been motivating me this whole time♡

                                                                       

 

In an empire far away, there has been a young beautiful prince ruling over his land and people. Also in this empire, there has been a young desperate boy who has lost his parents in a tragic accident, leaving him completely alone with his father’s debt until the prince’s debt collectors found out and brought him to his palace to pay it back immediately.

„I swear I’ll pay everything back!“, the boy screams as he is forcefully dragged into the throne room by two guards in military uniforms and a frown on their faces.

The boy’s hands are tied on his back with thick rope and the two guards are holding him by his arms on each side, not caring about his cries and pleads.

One of the guards speaks up: „Prince Sato Shori! We are here at your command and we brought this boy over because he can’t pay us back your money. For the 6th time already he could not bring up the money at the rescheduled date. And there’s nothing in his house that’s of value, like gold or metals.“

In the middle of the room there are small steps leading to a huge throne, embellished with all kinds of golden and silver stones, leather and fur cover on top, sparkly diamonds decorating the armrests. On that throne there he sits, this empire’s prince and next emperor, nicknamed by the village people as „pretty face but merciless soul“ prince Sato Shori.

„Untie him“, he orders and motions with his hand to the guards to undo the rope behind his back.

Shori sits up straight on the throne, quickly wiping his hands with a handkerchief because he has just finished a plate of Yakitori before he has been interrupted. Besides his face being naturally pretty, having inherited the pretty genes from his parents just like his noble status, he had his black hair messily fall over a dark blue headband and clothes made of silk, sealed by the waist with an obi sash similar to a yukata but shorter, with wide sleeves and black pants underneath.

„Let him introduce himself.“

As soon as the guards let the poor guy free, he falls to his knees.

„I’m Nakajima Kento, your highness!“, he shouts and his voice still trembles. His forehead is touching the carpet underneath him and his limbs shiver in fear and pain, but he knows he has to maintain calm and reassured. „I’m the only child of the Nakajima household in the far-west of your great kingdom and 18 years old. My parents unfortunately died in a fire two years ago and since then I left school to manage my father’s craft company by myself. I know I can’t complain but it’s really hard as I don’t have enough experience with swords- and weapon-making yet, the other workers also left me because they got better job opportunities and I-...“

„So you’re not even an educated worker. How much are you in debt now?“, Shori interrupts and asks coldly.

„10 million yen, your highness.“ Kento’s heartbeat is so fast and loud by now that Kento is afraid everyone around him can hear it.

„If we sell him to someone on the black market I think we can get that sum back. Throw him into the dungeon for now.“ Shori says it so casually, like he’s talking about goods and not about a human being instead.

This is when the guards grab him again and Kento finally looks up to Shori. This is the first time that he’s seeing the prince in person. He truly had such a pretty face, but all too bad that his heart was so tremendously cold. He doesn’t deserve any of the compliments and now Kento understands why some people speak bad about him.

„No please! I beg you!“, Kento screams and tries to break free from the guards with all his might, but his body is too scrawny and weak compared to the guards who are known to undergo one of the world’s best martial art trainings in Shori’s imperial palace.

If he ends up on the black market he can consider himself dead. People constantly talk about how horrible things go down on the black market, how people who get sold as slaves there mostly end up doing cruel work, they get experimented on by immoral doctors and probably their organs removed and sold to others by the underground mafia. Kento has to do something. Anything. His life can’t end here, after all that his parents went through for him.

„I don’t want to die, please! I’ll do anything, no matter what!“, Kento tries again and shouts from the top of his lungs as the guards drag him back towards the big wooden door that they came from. „I know how to cook from my mother, I can take care of your garden, I can do the work that no one wants to do here! I can join your military and...and fight!“

„It’s time to give up now“, one of the guards murmurs under his breath.

„My dad used to be a great sword fighter before he injured his arm at work, he taught me various techniques when I was little! Please, I beg you! I’ll do anything!“

Kento sees Shori finally look down at him again, just when the guards were about to open the doors.

„Stop right there“, Shori commands and gets up from his throne. The light of the oil lamps on each side of the high walls make his skin glow up even more as he goes down the steps and walks towards Kento, who is still held in a tight grip by the guards.

Shori can see how desperate the boy looks like now that he stands right in front of him. His hair is completely messed up, he’s way too thin and his clothes are dirty and partially ripped, probably due to his hard work. He can barely stand on his own two feet and without the guards he would most likely collapse onto the floor.

He bites his lips while Shori looks right into his eyes with an unreadable face expression. Almost as if there is no emotion, yet there was something that made Shori change his mind.

„You said you’re familiar with sword fighting?“

„Yes!“, Kento answers instantly. „Prince Sato. Please.“

Shori nods. „Okay. I have a plan and I think I need someone determined and willing like you.“

Kento can’t believe what he’s hearing. He will be given a chance by the prince himself. He lets out a gasp of relief and tries his best to hold his tears back.

„Let him go“, Shori says looking at the guards. „Completely. He won’t be a prisoner.“

The guards let go instantly and Kento realises how much his body was shivering this whole time.

„Thank you so much!“, Kento bows as low as he can while holding his trembling hands down. „I don’t know how to express my gratitude enough than to bow right now and assure you and your kingdom my lifelong loyalty!“

„You can relax. As part of the imperial palace and its court nobility you will be able to enjoy a good life. In exchange for that I want you to follow a strict training plan that I will prepare for you tonight. Starting from tomorrow, you’ll be trained in sword fighting and various other things and I’ll make you my best and smartest fighter.“

Kento’s eyes light up hearing those words. He doesn’t know what’s expecting him but it sounds better than what he expected in the beginning.

„Don’t get it wrong, you still belong to me so you will do as I say. But in this palace at least you’re a free man.“

Shori turns around and walks back to his throne. „I’ll have Matsushima make a contract and Iwahashi show you around and assign you a place to sleep.“

„Did I hear you call me, prince?“ Another guy enters the hall from one of the rooms next doors. He is rather small and cute-looking.

„I need you to show Nakajima a free room. Take care of him until he gets used to living here“, Shori orders. „You can leave now.“

„I’m Iwahashi Genki“, the shorter guy introduces himself as he walks Kento out of the room through the wide corridors and leaves the guards behind. „I’m prince Sato’s financial accountant. I watch over his spending and savings and I also watch over all the workers in the palace. I like making sure that everyone’s treated fairly and doesn’t constitute a threat to the prince and his family.“

„I’m... I’m Nakajima Kento. Well, I’m- I guess a slave now?“

„Oh don’t worry about that. Well, theoretically we’re all servants in some way, but prince Sato really makes sure that everyone has a proper job in here that suits them. I’m sorry that you had such a bad first encounter with him.“

„Bad encounter?“, Kento hisses. „He wanted me to die and he didn’t even care.“

„He probably had a rough day.“ Genki smiles and somehow Kento feels more relaxed the more he talks with him. „He is pretty cold on the outside, that’s true, but he also has a different side. A gentle, heartwarming side. You just have to get closer to him.“

„Are you close with the prince?“

„Hm, sometimes we talk about casual things and have dinner together. But mostly we discuss finances. Anyways, you will really have an enjoyable time here, we’re all like a big family. There’s many people out there who dream about working here with us this close to the prince.“

„Ah, I just remembered... who was Matsushima?“, Kento asks.

„Matsushima Sou! He’s prince Sato’s supreme commander, or more like, his right-hand man. He plans out all the military strategists and keeps everything under control, even when prince Sato goes on a business trip. He’s really smart and very loyal. Prince Sato and him grew up together, that’s why they have a strong bond. But I’m sure you’ll get along with him, he’s the opposite of the young prince.“

They turn right to a long corridor and Genki stops in front of a smaller door and fidgets with the key. „Here will be your new room. And the key will be yours from now on of course.“

Genki opens the door and Kento’s jaw almost drops. His old room at his parent’s small house is nothing compared to this. The tatami-room is double the size of his own old room with shabby wooden flooring. This room has a Kotatsu in the middle, a futon already laid out on the side of the room but the highlight for Kento are the big slide windows made out of thin paper that lead him to the palace’s garden in the backyard.

„Wow.“ That is all Kento can say. He came here with nothing and now he gets a room that looks like royalty.

„There’s fresh clothes in the cupboard. Wear them from now on. You really look horrible. And take a bath before that, we have several hot springs, bath houses and spas here.“

„Thank you so much, I really don’t know what else to say, it all happens too fast...“, Kento enters the room properly and walks around, touching everything like a curious child. „Iwahashi was your name right?“

„Yes, but please call me Genki. You’re now part of our family.“ Genki bows slightly and Kento returns it instantly, wiping a single tear from his cheeks.

First he has thought he was stuck in a nightmare but it seems like it all is turning into an unbelievable dream. Yes, he won’t have his parents back and he will still be the only Nakajima, but at least he can try to get used to his place and who knows, maybe he will like it in the end.

„Hey don’t cry, I think our future number one soldier shouldn’t cry!“, Genki jokes and playfully punches his chest. „Let me show you the rest of this place, okay?“

Kento takes a deep breath and follows Genki around for the rest of the evening.

  
~~~~~

  
The next morning really feels like a dream to Kento. He is lying on this comfortable futon with this soft blanket wrapped around him tightly, the sun shining through the paper-thin windows onto his exhausted body.

If he can only sleep a little bit longer.

„Do you know what time it is?!“

Kento blinks once, twice, then abruptly shoots up when he sees a stranger standing right in front of him.

„What time? Excuse me?“, Kento mumbles, still half-asleep.

„Did Iwahashi not show you the piece of paper on your desk? You were supposed to show up in my office at 6 in the morning. Now it’s past 7.“

Kento fumbles around the desk until he finds the piece of paper has fallen underneath it and he hadn’t seen it this way. „Ah... meet Matsushima at 6...“, Kento reads from the paper. „So you’re Matsushima Sou...“

„Yes and please try to be on time next. I’ll excuse you this time since it’s your first day here and I heard you had a horrible childhood“, Sou says with a sigh.

 _Genki was right_ , Kento thinks, _he really seems to be more calm than the prince. But they also seem very similar somehow._

„Follow me to my office and I’ll explain you your life from now on.“ He doesn’t even give Kento time to get dressed properly so he just follows him in his pants and white top.

They actually walk a long way from all the bedrooms and even pass the big hall until they enter a small room next to hall. There were only a few cupboards and a desk in the middle.

„Take a seat“, Sou offers as he sits behind the desk and pulls out some papers from underneath. There are already stacks of papers and documents on each side and Kento wonders what they are.

„I’m sorry for not showing up earlier“, Kento says and leaves his head hanging. „I really don’t want to mess up my chance...“

„It’s okay. I’m not as strict as all the other workers and teachers here. But here’s your work contract that I need you to sign and here’s your weekly schedule.“ Sou pushes two documents and a pen in front of Kento.

„Alright, alright...“ Kento signs the paper (it’s not like he has another choice) and starts becoming curious about his schedule so he takes the other document into his hands. „My day starts at 6 in the morning every day?“

„Yes, you’ll work from Monday to Saturday and Sunday you’ll have a free day. Prince Sato wants to train you to become the country’s best sword fighter. To achieve that you will also be given the country’s best training by the best teachers. That’s going to be your major training, to learn sword combat techniques.“ Sou looks up to him from the papers and Kento nods eagerly. „For that you also need to gain muscles, that’s why you’ll be trained in martial arts, hunting and archery. They’re all useful things that each and every of our men in the court nobility have mastered.“

„You too?“

„Yup me too“, Sou replies. „And the prince also wants you to catch up on your school education. We want you to focus on language and psychology especially. A good fighter will know how to manipulate the enemy after all.“

„That sounds really exciting. I love working“, Kento admits shamelessly. „But there won’t be any war anytime soon, will it?“

„That’s not something for you to decide. But no, we just like to be prepared for every possible outcome. As a former peasant you might not know what goes on behind the curtains but there are tons of criminals out there who try to harm us.“

„That’s the worst. I’ll do my best to protect this palace!“, Kento says with a loud voice and salutes.

Sou can’t hold in a giggle. „It’s been a while since I recruited such a positive and determined person.“

„Oh thank you.“ Kento smiles.

„You can go hurry and eat something now. Your training is about to start right after.“ Sou motions him to leave now and let him do his paperwork, so Kento does exactly that.

He walks straight to the dining hall to grab some food before his new exciting life begins.

It’s not that he isn’t suspicious still. He is and he doesn’t know if he can trust Shori. He seems like a twisted person. But he learned early on that it’s better to pretend to be happy and willing than to fight something that he can’t change at the current moment.

Entering the dining room, he immediately spots Genki at a round table with two other guys. The guards from yesterday.

„Kento! Look here!“, Genki yells and waves, then pats the free spot on the floor next to him.

Kento is scared at first but sits down eventually. „Good morning.“

„You’re kinda late today“, Genki realises and just remembers that he wanted to introduce him to his friends. „I know that you know these guys from yesterday but these are Jinguji and Kishi.“

„Yeah, we’re really sorry that we treated you that harshly yesterday“, Jinguji apologises and bows his head slightly.

„Same. But orders are orders after all and we can’t disobey“, Kishi adds.

„Uh, it’s okay. You didn’t hurt me that much anyways“, Kento replies shyly. „But I’m glad we can meet each other under normal circumstances now. Well, kinda.“

„You’ll get used to it, believe me!“ Kishi says as he digs into his rice and just when Kento is about to compliment the food, a maid quickly serves him his breakfast portion in front of him.

„Thanks“, he says quickly. „What? You get to eat mackerel with rice and soup as breakfast?“

„Yeah, duh.“ Jinguji rolls his eyes and laughs. „What did you expect? A five-course meal?“

„No! Not at all. I only ate a small portion of rice at home as breakfast, if I had enough money to even afford that. I can’t remember the last time I ate fish actually.“

„Oh boy. We’re dealing with a true peasant here“, Kishi remarks and Genki instantly ellbows him.

„I’m glad that you like it here already.“ Genki smiles and continues eating his own food.

„Yesterday I heard that you lived really far from the palace, far on the west“, Kishi changes the topic quickly after Genki hissed at him to be nicer to new people. „How was life there? And how are the village people? Are there really crazy rumours going around about the palace and the prince? Since the west region is the one that’s affected by poverty the most.“

„Crazy rumours?“, Kento asks with his mouth full of fish meat, but waits until he chews properly and swallows. „Hmm. Prince Sato used to have older twin brothers right? There’s a rumour going around that prince Sato poisoned and killed them at a young age so he could become the next heir to the throne.“

„Oh lord!“, Kishi gasps and throws his hands up to his mouth. „You villagers are really something-...ouch!“

Genki looks at him again with a frown. „That’s just rumours. They also exist in here. Remember when the kitchen maids were talking about the prince purchasing an European slave girl? Yeah it turned out to be an European princess who just paid the palace a visit.“

„Ohh I remember that. She was so stunning“, Jingujis says dreamily.

„I wish I was a prince too so I could have any girl that I want“, Kishi replies as his mind wanders far away.

„Your life here must be really nice if you have time to think about things like that“, Kento sighs. „The only thing on my mind every day for the past two years was to survive.“

„But really, I wonder what happened to his twin brothers.“ Jinguji scratches the back of his head as he brings the topic back. „Prince Sato never talks about his family. Him and his older sister, the princess, are very withdrawn when it comes to family matters. We only know that it was due to an uncureable sickness...“

Although there are still many things Kento has to learn and get used to, he is more than happy to have ended up in this place. He complies with everything that the future will bring him.

 

~~~~~  


_4 years later_

 

The afternoon sun is shining directly onto Kento’s face. His eyes are closed and he’s lying on his back in the green grass, the palms of his hands gently hovering over the earth, dreaming about being out there somewhere on an adventure. The world is big and beautiful and he has his whole life ahead of him.

He can hear himself exhale every single time and the little stream of water in the palace’s garden splatter against stones. Somewhere in the distance he can hear children laugh and he imagines himself running around in front of his parent’s house when he was little. How his mother has always told him to be careful while he swung his wooden toy sword around, pretending to fight his father. They have been strict parents but he can clearly remember their smiles.

„It’s nice out here in the imperial garden, right?“ It’s Genki who’s lying next to him. „But we shouldn’t laze around the whole day.“

„Do you ever think about what it feels like to be free?“, Kento asks with his eyes still closed and his body not moving at all.

„What are you talking about? We are free“, Genki replies and sits up.

„I mean, to be free to explore the world. Do you ever think about that?“

„No because I’m happy here. Prince Sato provides me shelter, food and safety while my own parents almost killed me.“ Kento opens his eyes when he hears Genki tell him that. „I had horible parents growing up and I’m glad I applied to work here. It was the best decision of my life.“

„You’re right“, Kento says and finally sits up too, stretching his arms while doing so. „How many years has it been now? Four?“

„Yeah, you’ve been here for nearly four years now and you grew up so much. You became super handsome and you’re popular among all the maids“, Genki chuckles. „It would be a waste if you were somewhere else.“

Kento laughs. Genki is right, he indeed has changed a lot. He’s 22 years old now. He did not just grow up, his body has become well-toned thanks to the hard training, broad shoulders and a defined chest. He has a nice haircut and soft black hair, his facial features have become more distinct too. He has learned new abilities and his knowledge has broadened as well.

„I don’t intend on leaving, don’t worry“, Kento reassures him. „And I think I finally know why prince Sato is always so grumpy. I think he wants to keep up a bad image on purpose so that people from other kingdoms fear him.“

„Is that what you’ve been thinking about all this time? Come on“, Genki says as he gets up from the ground and stretches his arm out to help Kento get up. „We’ve had enough chit-chat for today. We should go back to work.“

Kento smiles and grabs his hand gleefully. „Daydreaming like this with you is nice but you’re right. My training is about to start.“

 

~~~~~  
  


Tying the laces on his boots properly and adjusting his waistband are the last things Kento does before entering the huge training hall.

His teacher is already waiting on the other side of the room. He is an old, wise man with a gentle smile and piercing eyes. He looks calm and slow at first glance but Kento remembers his first training exactly and how he has pinned him down to the floor in mere seconds.

„Nakajima Kento.“

„Yamamoto-san.“

They bow in front of each other and Kento puts his hand on the sheath of his katana that’s been attached to his side. He slowly draws it and the shiny silver blade reflects the sun from outside.

„Wait a second!“, a familiar voice shouts from the entrance of the room. It is Shori who has been watching Kento for quite a while. Sou is standing next to him, as always, like he wants to tell him not to do anything stupid.

Kento and his teacher turn around and Kento startles when he sees prince Shori himself walk towards them, with a katana in his hands and in his casual fighting clothes.

„Today I want to be the one who fights against Nakajima.“

„W-what?“, Kento stutters.

„I have watched you train before and I think you are ready now.“ Shori motions to the teacher to leave to the side as he takes his place in front of Kento. „You will fight against me today as if I were the enemy. Take it seriously and do your best.“

Shori looks composed and Kento becomes nervous since he cannot judge his behaviour at all. He has never fought Shori before so he doesn’t know his style of combat.

„Prince Sato“, Kento says and bows in front of him, like he always does it before every fight, but he jerks when he feels the strike of the katana already next to his body.

„In a real life situation you would have been dead already. You don’t bow in a real fight.“ Shori’s voice is strict and stern. Kento just remembers Shori is not really known for using fair techniques and is ready to use every chance to eliminate anyone who is standing in his way.

But Kento is so sure that many things Shori portrays on the outside are just an act. He can see it in his eyes altough Shori keeps a straight face. Something a good fighter learns with time.

Kento already feels sweat drip off his forehead but there’s no time to think about that. He has been allowed to train with a real katana for almost half a year. It is always dangerous but his skills are good enough to handle it without wounding Shori nor himself by now.

He has learned how to control his body, the katana and the steps that are needed in order to win against the enemy.

But he has never fought against Shori himself before. The only thing he knows about his sword combat is that he’s known for being an excellent sword fighter. He has been undergoing training since he was little, just like Kento from his father, but Shori has had better teachers and better circumstances.

Shori and Kento start taking their first steps towards each other, then walk half a circle.

The first step is to be aware of the situation. Sword fighting is not just about the physical aspect. The key to winning a fight is actually mental strength. The ability to quickly take in your surroundings and analyse the person in front of you. To be able to calculate how to turn the environment to your advantage.

If he wastes only a fraction of a second and lets his enemy take him by surprise he’s done.

Step two is to put yourself in a position where you can attack and protect yourself in the most effective way. Kento has learned this fast but he was often beaten quickly because his body gave him away.

Kento strikes first and immediately Shori parries.

„Concentrate more“, Shori says calmly.

Kento’s face expression remains earnest and without any change. He turns around rapidly and aims for Shori’s back, but again he’s only met with his blade.

Step three is to relax your body. If you are in a frazzled, nervous state, your body will not act the way you need it to. Kento knows in order to win against the prince, who has been training for ages, he needs speed, control and mental clarity. He needs a state of calm concentration.

Kento’s body is balanced and his legs spread apart. His katana is held tightly in both of his hands but not too tight so he can handle it with ease. He is able to foresee when Shori will counter and try to attack him back approximately but he also knows Shori is just waiting for him to make a mistake so he will impale himself on his sword. Kento is forced to engage carefully and defend himself.

Finally Shori strikes and attacks Kento who dodges carefully but swift, still keeping his posture straight and his chest and torso forward which keeps him from losing his balance.

He takes a step back to figure out Shori’s possible next step. He really wants to win this time, he knows it. But that’s not what’s on his mind at the very moment. He’s ready to lose, like he did many times before.

He’s scared that his uncertainty will show on his face and it will end fatal. Shori knows him the best after all.

Kento is drenched in sweat by now but his eyes are on the prince. He takes steps forward and counts them in his head.

One step forward.

Two moves to the side.

Three times Shori shows him a parry and dodges.

And the fourth time, timed just at the right second, Kento manages to make the winning blow.

A professional sword fight never takes more than a few minutes. Kento breathes heavily as he holds his katana only millimetres away from Shori’s throat. His hands are shivering but the look in his eyes is determined and ready.

He could kill Shori here and now, if he wanted to. But fighting against Kento and letting him use a real katana has shown that the trust was mutual. That Shori believes in Kento’s strength and wants him to succeed, so Kento quickly gets rid of that thought.

He has won against Shori, fair and straight.

Shori puts his katana back in its sheath and starts clapping and that’s when Kento truly realises that he has won. His hands finally give in and he lets the katana fall to the floor.

„Well done, well done“, Shori praises and Kento sighs in relief. „I’m really proud of you. It’s not easy to beat me.“

Shori smiles and Kento thinks this is the first time he sees the prince like that. He can still barely believe what just happened.

„I’m really-... I don’t even know what to say...“

„You don’t have to say anything. Go take a bath and then meet me in the throne room, I have something to tell you“, Shori says and gives him a pat on the shoulder before he walks back towards Sou who already has a towel ready to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

„I will meet you there, prince“, Kento shouts and bows once again before Shori disappears.

Kento realises Genki, Jinguji and Kishi have also been watching his training from the side of the room this whole time and they’re holding their thumbs up, silently cheering and hollering.

Kento waves in their direction and motions with his hands that he really needs to take a shower now before he makes his appearance in front of the prince.

 

~~~~~

  
  
When Kento walks to the throne room, he thinks about the things Shori might be about to tell him. He hopes he will be promoted as something fancy like his personal advisor, or personal guard or something like that. He fantasises about the rewards he might get and imagines his parents happy faces and how proud they would have been if they were to see how far their son has made it.

As he’s standing right in front of the big doors he isn’t sure if he should knock or announce himself or something, but before he can even debate it in his head, two servants open the doors for him.

Shori is sitting on a bunch of pillows in the middle of the room at a small but long table in front of him. There’s plates with all kinds of delicacies and bowls and glasses and so many drinks. Kento would be lying if he says that he isn’t drooling a little.

„Take a seat“, Shori says welcoming.

Kento walks forward, a little insecure at first, but he swiftly sits down properly on his knees right in front of Shori.

„Everyone else except Matsushima please leave the room.“

Kento can hear the servants and a few maids leave with quick steps, closing the heavy door behind them.

Kento’s heart suddenly begins to beat faster. He has been alone with Shori before already but he always knew for which purpose. They went hunting together, eat dinner with other close servants, something similar to that. But he has actually never been this close and this private with Shori.

„I’m sure you’re very curious about the reason why you are here“, Shori assumes as he takes one of the sake bottles and personally pours sake in one of the little ceramic glasses in front of Kento.

„Of course I am highly honoured to be here“, Kento replies.

„So, here is the plan“, Shori says and clears his throat before he continues. „I have been preparing for this day since the very beginning and now you have finally become the perfect assassin.“

Kento is about to take his shot of sake when he stops himself. „Assassin? You trained me to become an assassin?“

„Yes. This will be your biggest mission. You’ll assassinate prince Kikuchi from the neighbouring kingdom.“

„What?!“

„I need him gone in order to take my rightful land back. The Sato empire can’t just sit back and watch how that dumbass Kikuchi gets more and more influence in the East!“ Shori thumps his hands down on the table and it’s the first time Kento has seen him seriously upset.

„How do I even do this? It’s not like I can just walk through the front door of his kingdom and say hi to him!“

„I know what Kikuchi likes and it’s guys exactly like you“, Shori tells him and leans back again. „You have a pretty face and you’re part filipino, which makes you pretty exotic... I heard he’s into that. I’m sending you over to his palace as a friendly gift and a sign of peace.“

Kento knows Shori keeps track of everyone’s bloodline and he’s not even surprised he has really learned absolutely everything about him in the past four years but he still can’t help but feel shocked.

„You want me to pretend...“ It is beyond Kento’s grasp.

„Have you ever heard of the saying ‚Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer’?“ Shori raises a brow. „That’s what I want you to do. You’ll become his servant, obey his every rule, and when the time comes...“

„...I will kill him“, Kento finishes. All of a sudden a lot of things made sense to him. Like the reason why he had to attend so many classes on human behaviour. He had to learn how to be a good deceiver.

Finally he takes the sake shot and the bitter taste on his tongue immediately makes his face frown and his cheeks flame up.

„I see you have understood and agreed.“

 _Not really agreed_ , Kento thinks to himself. But it’s not like he has a choice in this.

„I don’t know how you will be treated there but you have to keep in mind that all that you’re doing is for a greater cause“, Shori reminds him. „When you become successful and return home you’ll be an acclaimed hero and I’ll let you marry a princess from a kingdom far in the West.“

Kento giggles because all of a sudden he remembers Jinguji and Kishi who have been crushing over that pretty foreign princess since forever and all he can think of are their struck faces when they show up on his wedding and see him actually marry that girl.

„Kento!“, Shori yells and interrupts Kento’s giggling. „I hope you’re taking this serious because you know what happens if you fail.“

Kento takes a deep breath. Of course he knows what happens then. He loses everything. His home, his friends, his comfortable life. If he’s lucky the other prince will spare his life, but he’s not even sure about that.

„How is that other prince like?“, Kento asks as he takes another shot of sake. „He can’t be that great if I never heard anything peculiar about him.“

„He’s known for not being the smartest so... I think with my training you’ll be able to trick him. Definitely“, Shori assures him and fumbles around the table looking for something. „Ah, here it is.“

Shori picks up a small box and opens it in front of a bewildered Kento. „This is my present to you. I believe you’ll be 100% successful with it.“

It’s a small, sharp knife with a straight golden blade instead of silver. The handle is made of fine wood material and the blade has a cherry blossom pattern engraved on it.

„Hide it with you and remember to use it at the right moment. Aim for the heart and you’ll only need one strong hit.“

Kento takes the knife into his hands and studies it. As much as he can’t deny how pretty it looks, he can’t imagine himself killing anyone with it. Not that he’s doubting his abilities but from the very beginning he didn’t know that in the end this is going to be the purpose of all his training.

„I believe in you and your parents must have been really proud of you“, Shori says all of a sudden. „I’m sorry they’re not here right now to witness the great work their son puts up with.“

„I won’t let you down, prince“, Kento says and finally gives in.

_But I’ll need more than just one shot of sake to be able to comprehend the meaning of all this._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuma is finally in the story, yay! Also I have too many FumaKen ideas and I don't know how to make them all fit into the story... (aka the story is kinda messy right now)

                                                                     

 

 

Kento has just started to get used to his new family and his new life after four years and now he is already moving to a completely new kingdom. It’s not like it took him ages to get accustomed to the old one.

Kento sighs as he realises he’s starting from the very beginning again. His hands tied on his back, taken by two guards on each side. Only this time he complies and willingly walks with them to wherever they take him.

His journey has been long. He was traveling for about 5 days with a guard and two horses. But at least he has seen some of the countryside and many wild animals (one of their encounters being with a pack of wolves that almost killed them, but Kento was prepared to bow-hunt anyways).

Sweat is running down his forehead. He tries wiping it off with the sleeve of his jacket but he realises the guards are still holding him, just in case he decides to do something stupid.

Finally they enter a hall that seems to be the main room in the palace. The guards let him go and before Kento can even look around he falls to his knees as a token of respect.

„What is it this time?“ Kento can hear the young prince in front of him say.

„Excuse us, prince Kikuchi! This is a present from the Sato kingdom, west of here. From prince Sato himself, actually“, one of the guards speaks up and rolls up a piece of paper in front of him. „His letter reads; _Please accept this gift as a sign of eternal peace between our empires. May you enjoy this slave’s presence and do with him whatever you desire. P.S.: I would not kill him, he has some excellent qualities.“_

Fuma chuckles sitting on his throne. „Is he serious? This must be a joke, right?“

„No prince Kikuchi, if you ask me Sato is in deadly earnest“, the guard replies.

„Okay, okay“, Fuma says, crossing his legs. „Slave, get up and introduce yourself.“

„I am Nakajima Kento, prince“, Kento says as he slowly gets up and bows instantly. „From now on, I will always be at your service.“

Kento looks up at Fuma, who is sitting a few metres away from him. His clothes and the robe around him look more casual than what Shori is usually wearing. His black, short hair looks smooth and perfectly styled, but he’s not wearing any headgear. He does wear a few golden rings on his fingers though that look like they’re of value, matching with a thin necklace, a small silver feather dangling on it.

„So, what are the qualities that you have, Nakajima?“ Kento gets goosebumps hearing his name being called out loud, it was so unusual for him to hear it from a stranger.

„I’m...“, Kento starts, thinking about what to mention. He cannot give too much away or he would end up looking suspicious, being given away as a slave although he’s pretty skilled. He has to put himself in the shoes of his old self when he was brought to Shori’s palace for the first time four years ago. „My father was a swordsmith so I learned a few techniques on how to use a sword.“

„Hmm“, Fuma seems to think about it for a moment. Like he’s trying to figure out what he can end up doing with Kento, but there’s nothing he can think of. „Actually I have enough soldiers and good sword fighters...“

„I- I didn’t mean that I have to to do this one specific thing!“, Kento instantly jumps in. „I can do and learn everything you tell me to, prince Kikuchi.“

„I know“, Fuma says with a chuckle but from one second to the other, his voice changes drastically.

„Strip naked.“

„Eh?“ Kento isn’t sure if he heard him correctly. The command is so sudden and unexpected that Kento just stares at Fuma, awe-struck.

„Are you deaf? I told you to strip naked!“

Kento jerks at Fuma raising his voice and immediately puts his hands on the hem of his jacket. He fiddles with the buttons, his hands obviously shaking, and tries to unbutton them as quick as possible.

Kento rather does that than being patted down by the guards, but he can’t help but feel completely nervous and scared of what’s awaiting him afterwards. He can’t shake off the feeling that something more terrifying than this will happen.

Leaving all his shame aside and trying to remain calm at the same time, Kento quickly gets rid of his shirt and reveals his bare chest in front of Fuma. Next is his belt and the pants and he doesn’t even dare to look up because he’s afraid he will do something wrong when all he has to do is this simple but embarrassing task.

Fuma gets up from his throne just when Kento successfully pulls his pants down, carefully lying the piece of fabric down on the pile of clothes in front of him. Kento takes a deep breath and thinks the quicker he gets it done, the quicker he will be able to leave so he also kicks his underwear down just as Fuma is walking straight up towards him and stops in front of the clothes on the ground.

Kento tries his best to cover his private parts with his shaky hands. It’s pretty chilly in the room too, considering that it’s autumn and it’s cold outside anyways.

Now Fuma stands right in front of him and Kento can see they’re almost the same height, Fuma being a little taller than himself. But Fuma still has this stern face expression on and Kento isn’t sure what to think of it in his now nude and vulnerable state.

After Fuma has been looking at naked Kento up and down for a few seconds with a completely straight face (which by the way felt like an eternity to Kento), he bent down to pick up Kento’s jacket, examining it in his hands.

Fuma doesn’t need all too long to find what he has been expecting to see in the jacket. He fishes the small knife out of a pocket on the inside of the jacket and holds it in front of Kento’s face and his eyes widen instantly, realising that he completely forgot about the knife Shori gave him on his journey to here, not expecting anyone to find the small thing inside of his clothes at all.

„A weapon?“, Fuma scoffs and steps closer to Kento, so that only mere centimetres seperate them. The guards behind them already have their hands on their sheath, ready to step in in case Kento attacks.

But Kento just stays still unsure what to do nor what to say next.

„On your knees“, Fuma commands and Kento immediately does what he’s told, his hands still between his legs and his eyes close shut. He swallows hard and expects Fuma to hit him and tell him he will be thrown into the dungeon or anything of the sort.

However, Kento opens his eyes again when Fuma grabs his chin instead and raises his face up so he can look him straight in the eyes. Kento’s face suddenly turns red and he’s not sure if it’s because of Fuma’s touch or of embarrassment or of his frazzled state of mind.

„Do you know what happens to people who smuggle weapons into my kingdom?“

Kento swallows again. He needs an explanation. Quick. He has been trained to do this. _Breathe, Kento_ , he tells himself before he opens his mouth.

„It’s not a weapon! My dad gave me this knife as a present before he died and now it’s the only thing that I have left of him.“

Fuma’s eyes are piercing through him but Kento also learned how to keep his face straight, although he’s scared, although he’s vulnerable, although he doesn’t know if his lie will save or kill him.

„Okay“, Fuma says after what felt like an eternity to Kento and lets go of his face. „I’m sorry about your dad. But I’ll still have to confiscate this for a while.“

Holding the little knife in one of his hands, Fuma puts the blade back in and lets it disappear in one of his back pockets.

„Guards, please give Nakajima new proper clothes and give him something to eat. I’ll meet him later in front of my personal room“, Fuma says casually as he walks away towards one of the side rooms.

Kento keeps looking after Fuma while he quickly picks up his clothes and puts them on, not even minding the guards behind him.

He is not sure if the first meeting with the other prince was worse or better than with Shori.

 

~~~~~

  
Dressed in his new clothes and having eaten a proper dinner after such a long time, Kento is feeling at least a little bit better. Plus he has survived the first meeting with the prince after all. The more he thinks about it the more awkward he feels, so he tries to push it to the back of his mind and concentrates on what’s going to happen next.

Right after finishing his dinner, a guard picks Kento up again and escorts him to a different part of the palace. Kento supposes his new sleeping place, or at least he hopes so because this whole day has really stressed him out.

The guard doesn’t tell Kento anything specific, unsure of what he is supposed to do, so Kento slowly enters through the slide door and steps into the spacious room, closing the door again behind him.

There’s a huge double bed in the middle of the room with a curtain on one side and many pillows around, big windows on the opposite side of him, a small table and a wardrobe in one corner and another much smaller bed in the other. Kento walks towards the bed, pretty sure he was accidentally brought to the wrong room because no way in hell was he assigned such a royally bedroom.

„I’m sorry for being so insensitive earlier“, a familiar voice says and Kento jerks again, almost receiving a heart-attack when he turns around and sees Fuma standing in front of him, wearing only a simple nightgown. „I know what it feels like to lose a family member.“

„W-what?!“

„It was just kinda fun to mess around with you before that... You’re really ready to do _anything_ from now on, huh?“

Kento panics a little, unsure of what’s going on. „I think... I’m not supposed to be here right? I got pranked and was brought to the wrong room?“

„No no, you’re right. I told the guard to bring you here“, Fuma says and gives Kento a pat on his shoulder as he walks past by him and lets himself flop into his kingsize bed. „I forgot to tell you, but I think I want to make you my personal assistant from now on. I think you’d fit that position.“

„But prince Kikuchi-...“

„And please just call me Fuma, I really don’t like having that distance with everyone and everywhere.“

„Prince...“, Kento mumbles. „prince Fuma. I still don’t get it, what am I doing in your personal bedroom?“ _Or do I just don’t want to get it?_

„Nothing, really. Just sleep“, Fuma replies, pointing to the direction of the smaller bed in the corner. „I feel at ease knowing that someone is sleeping in the same room as me. I just hope you don’t snore.“

Kento is about to ask if this is a joke but when he sees Fuma crawl underneath his blankets, he knows it’s not.

The room is huge and both beds are quite far apart, even the smaller bed looks too fancy and comfortable to what Kento is usually used to. He slowly walks towards it and sits down. He can feel his tiredness overcome him and he just wants to lie down on the soft futon.

„Please put out the flame of the light“, Fuma mumbles from his bed and Kento quickly walks over to the oil lamp and blows the light out.

Thanks to the moonlight from outside shining through the windows, the room is still very bright. Somehow Kento can hear more noises now than before when they were talking. He can hear the wind blow outside and the trees rustle.

He finally lies down and pulls the blanket over his body, closing his eyes. As much as he tries to get comfortable and relax to be able to fall asleep, he just can’t.

Of course it takes a while to get used to a new place and this is just his first day but Kento feels like he won’t be able to get a wink of sleep, knowing that he isn’t sharing a room with just anyone but with the prince himself. There’s so many questions he has that he wants to be answered but there’s this barrier between him and Fuma, him being a peasant and Fuma a prince, that he isn’t sure he will ever be able to ask without sounding rude or disrespectful.

Kento doesn’t know how much time passes but he feels like he’s lying in this bed for hours without being able to fall asleep. He misses his old room, his friends, the secure surrounding he has had before. He even hugs one of the many pillows on his bed and tries to think about pleasant memories to help him fall asleep but nothing changes.

 _Maybe I need a glass of water_ , Kento thinks to himself and sits up. But then he remembers he doesn’t have a clue where the kitchen is or anything else in the palace and it’s dark anyways and he doesn’t want to wake Fuma up at all costs.

He looks over to Fuma and all he can see is a vague silhouette of his body underneath the covers, soundly sleeping and his chest slightly moving with his every breath.

_And maybe this is my perfect chance to end it all._

Kento slowly gets up from his bed and walks towards the side of the double bed Fuma was sleeping in. He’s careful and silent, even holding his breath in just to make sure not to make any noise.

Stopping by the side of Fuma’s bed, Kento looks down to him. Actually he looks quite peaceful and innocent like this, lying on his back, his chest slightly moving and the moonlight shining onto his handsome face and plump lips.

Kento quickly shakes that thought off and takes a glance at his nightstand. There’s only some jewellery and a book, nothing interesting or important for Kento. He isn’t here to steal after all. He’s here to kill.

Even without a knife, he can do it easily. He scans the room, looking for the most efficient solution. He could use one of the pillows to smother the prince while he’s asleep or he could strangle him to death, knowing that a sleeping person will never have enough power to quickly defend themselves after suddenly being awakened.

While lost in his thoughts Kento suddenly feels a grip on his wrist as he is being pulled down towards the bed, but instead of being met with a slap to his face or the mattress or something entirely else, he’s met with Fuma’s lips.

Fuma kisses him.

Kento stays like that for a few seconds, he doesn’t dare to move nor does he truly realise what is happening at the very moment. All he feels are Fuma’s plush lips pressing against his and he wishes that everything is just a bad dream that he will wake up from any second.

Kento’s body automatically backs off and he interrupts the kiss, trying to catch his breath again as Fuma slowly opens his eyes. Thankfully it’s dark and Fuma cannot make out his flustered face expression and bright red blushing cheeks.

„What are you doing?“, Fuma asks in a sleepy voice as he sits up.

 _I should be the one asking that_ , Kento complains in his head but he is tongue-tied so he just stares at Fuma like an idiot while biting his lips as hard as he can.

„Are you sleepwalking?“, Fuma supposes and finally releases the grip on Kento’s wrist.

„Y-yes I did! I’m so sorry“, Kento mumbles and bows as quick as he never did in his life before and runs back to his bed where he throws the blanket over his head in hope he could disappear forever.

He takes a few deep breaths and clutches his chest before calming his racing heart down and relaxing his body. He closes his eyes shut and tries his best to forget and not think about what has just happened.

 _Think about the mission Kento,_ he tells himself in his mind. _Think about it and you will succeed very soon._

With these thoughts Kento tries to keep himself calm and fall asleep for the rest of the night. He still feels very lonely and the confusion in his head right now is not what he needed at all but he tries his best to distract himself while keeping his mission in his sight.

Never in his life did Kento imagine that his very first kiss would be with a prince.

 

~~~~~

 

The next morning comes faster than Kento would like it to come. He wakes up with his blanket still over his head and his hair all messed up. The sun is shining through the big windows and he peeks outside of the blanket carefully.

Fuma isn’t anywhere in the room and his bed is made.

Kento lets out a sigh of relief and throws the blanket away from his body to look around the room. Suddenly he remembers what has happened last night and still he cannot comprehend it.

 _Why would the prince kiss me? He must have been dreaming and did it on impulse,_ Kento thinks to himself and sighs.

After making the bed he quickly grabs his jacket and walks out of the room, carefully closing the door behind him. As soon as he does that, he jumps back when he sees a girl leaning against the wall on the opposite side of him, her arms crossed and her stare blank.

„Don’t think that you’re special just because he lets you sleep in the same room as him.“

Kento eyes her suspiciously. „Excuse me, but you are...?“

„Someone who has been close to the prince for a very long time“, she says with a serious voice. She has beautiful long black hair with a blue flower attached on the side and a long blue strapless dress.

„What are you trying to say...?“

„Prince Kikuchi has many concubines and is known for his wild party nights. He had girls come from all over the world only to serve him. Girls with beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes, girls with dark skin and curly hair, girls with big breasts and luscious bodies... but they all just stayed for a night.“

Kento looks at her in disbelief. „Look, I don’t know what you are implying, but obviously I am a guy and I don’t serve prince Kikuchi in that way.“

„I’m just warning you“, she says with a calm voice. „You won’t be the only one.“

„I’m not worried about anything.“ _Actually I’m worried about everything. Especially this encounter right now._

Kento decides it’s for the best to leave the girl and make his way towards the dining room, or at least to the place where he thinks it is.

As soon as he sets foot in the noisy room with many people at various tables sitting and eating their breakfast, he can feel himself attract all the attention suddenly. Everyone’s heads have turned and they stared at him for a few seconds until they resumed to eat their food again.

However, the whispering behind his back doesn’t stop. People still try to cast a glance at him and Kento can’t blame them but he would appreciate it if he can at least eat in peace. He can understand their feelings. He’s a foreigner and they don’t know him, the only things they know are that he’s from a different kingdom and that he might be dangerous.

Kento picks up his bowl of rice and fish and scans the room to look for a place to sit down but unfortunately there are people at every table and none of them look very welcoming towards foreigners.

„You can sit with me if you want to“, a guy behind Kento says and he turns around. „I’m Hirano Sho, by the way.“

„Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Nakajima Kento.“ He bows slightly. „I’m sorry for the inconvenience.“

„It’s okay. My friends are at the table far in the back, let’s go“, Sho says with a smile and motions Kento to follow him to their table.

While Kento obediently follows Sho he lets his guard down and stops watching his surroundings as he squeezes through a narrow way between two tables to get to his assigned table to finally eat. All that is needed is one second for Kento to overlook a guy stretching his leg out on purpose and before Kento can properly comprehend, he trips and falls straightforward on his face and the bowl of rice makes a loud thud on the marble floor and the white rice scatters.

If not already, by now everyone has turned their heads to see who is causing such a commotion early in the morning.

Sho turns around in shock and stares at Kento and the wasted food on the ground. The two guys behind Kento, one of them who has made him trip on purpose, are giggling to each other.

„It’s better to know your place, foreigner“, one of them says mischievously and leans back over their own bowl of food, trying to look as innocent as possible.

The whole room is whispering and watching the scene in the middle of the room, waiting for any kind of reaction from Kento but he just wipes the rice of his sleeves and gets up slowly.

„Are you alright?“, Sho asks after running up to his side, eyeing Kento’s right wrist that he was now holding in a tight grip with his other hand, obviously in pain.

„What’s going on in here?!“

Everyone turns silent in an instant as Fuma announces himself in the dining room. They turn their heads towards their meals again and try to remain as normal as possible. Kento doesn’t say anything even when Fuma walks directly towards and stops in front of him and the spoiled food.

„I want everyone’s attention right here!“, Fuma shouts in a resentful tone. „If you’re turning everything into a fun show, you can as well enjoy this now.“

Kento raises a brow, completely oblivious of what Fuma means. He expects to get scolded, to be lectured in front of everybody, but that doesn’t happen.

„You all know how much I hate it when food is being wasted and you might think your little prank was funny, but I don’t think so“, Fuma continues. „Hirano, on your knees.“

Sho’s eyes widen. „What? I wasn’t the one who made him trip, why me? I swear it wasn’t me!“

„Are you disobeying my orders?“, Fuma mocks and Sho finally falls to his knees. „I want you to lick off every single grain of rice that you wasted from the floor. Right now!“

Kento steps back in shock and he looks at Sho and Fuma in turns, thinking he cannot be serious. But as Sho shuts his eyes close, bows down and puts his tongue out to literally lick the floor, Kento looks away mortified. Although he is not the one having to go through with such an humiliating punishment, he feels guilty.

„I’m so sorry, prince Kikuchi“, Sho says with a sobbing voice as soon as he finishes and stoops as low as possible, his forehead touching the ground.

„Good. If I ever see any of you fooling around again like this, I’ll make sure you’ll get a greater punishment“, Fuma announces to no one in particular in the room. Sho is still kneeling on the ground when Fuma grabs Kento’s wrist and drags him out of the room with him.

„Ouch, ouch“, Kento yelps along the way because Fuma has managed to grab his injured wrist and his grip wasn’t even that weak.

Fuma drags him to a different smaller room and makes him sit down on a pile of pillows without any words. The room smells strongly because incense sticks are lit all around the room and Kento can catch a glimpse of a table full with little bottles and boxes next to them.

„Sit still, I’m going to take care of your injury now“, Fuma mumbles and sits in front of him cross-legged, taking Kento’s wrist into his hands without waiting for a reply.

„I-it’s okay it will heal by itself in a few days anyways“, Kento says and tries to pull his hand back but Fuma holds his wrist firmly and doesn’t let go.

„It’s my fault so let me do it, okay?“

Kento gulps as he watches Fuma gently apply some kind of herbs and creams onto his wrist and rubs it across the hurting part of skin. The cream smells nice and Kento can feel his muscles and his arm finally relax but looking at Fuma from this up close, suddenly he remembers last night’s kiss and what has happened and his face turns red immediately.

Thankfully Fuma doesn’t seem to try to look into his eyes so Kento averts his gaze as well and stares into nowhere particular.

„I’m curious“, Kento asks. „Don’t you have a doctor or a nurse to take care of business like this?“

„I do but they’re not here now“, Fuma replies quickly, like he has expected Kento to ask that anytime soon. „So just shut up and let me take care of you so I can sleep without a bad conscience.“

„It wasn’t your fault. I tripped by myself.“

„Do you think I’m blind?“, Fuma asks while putting a bandage around Kento’s wrist.

„I mean, it really wasn’t necessary to give such a harsh punishment to that guy... He didn’t even do it.“

„I know he didn’t do it but I wanted to see if his friend was going to step in to tell the truth but he didn’t so I’m kinda disappointed. I’ll deffinitely fire him later.“

„No, don’t do that!“, Kento retorts almost instantly. „Please, I don’t want anyone to lose their job because of me or be further humiliated. I can understand their feelings. I’m a foreigner here and it’s normal that they aren’t going to treat me like I’m one of them.“

„You were humiliated as well! Don’t you care about yourself at all?“, Fuma yells infuriated. „Why are you letting everyone treat you like shit ever since you came here?!“

„Because obviously I’m a slave! What am I supposed to do?“, Kento replies in despair and looks down as he clenches his fists.

„No! I want you to be my friend okay?!“

They both look up to each other at the same time and Kento swears he could catch a glimpse of Fuma’s cheeks turning slightly red while angrily screaming at him. „I mean, you’re annoying and I don’t even know what I want to do with you!“

Suddenly Fuma gets up with a grumble and walks towards the door to leave. „I’ll send over a maid to bring you food here. You should rest properly and eat, I don’t want you to be tormented by hunger since I won’t be able to use you for anything if you become weak.“

Fuma slams the door behind him with a loud bang and Kento startles a little. He leans back into one of the huge pillows behind him and lets out a deep sigh, looking down at his patched up wrist.

_Why is this guy so complicated?_

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello, I present to you... the third chapter! :D It has light smut at the end so be prepared if you're uncomfortable reading that kind of stuff (but we're all here for the FumaKen aren't we) (p.s.: the right pic of Kento has actually inspired me to write this fanfic :D doesn't he look yummy in that yukata~)

                                                                       

 

The following days go by quick. Kento sticks to an easy routine which contains eating, walking around the palace and sleeping. From time to time he crosses path with Fuma who just throws him a quick glance, but they don’t speak for a long while.

Fuma always seems to be engulfed in work, always some papers in his hands or some important-looking people talking to him. Kento wonders why he is even assigned as his personal assistant if there’s nothing for him to do.

This way he will never get close enough to him to be able to assassinate him.

Plus it feels incredibly lonely to be in such a big palace with so many people when in the end you’re completely alone. That’s what Kento thinks as the days pass by. He tries befriending Sho once again but the other guy seems to avoid him at any cost after the last incident, too terrified to get closer to him again.

Kento sits in the royal garden in front of a small pond, watching the koi fish swim in the water underneath him. He lets his fingers graze the surface of the water and watches the fish try to gently nip his fingers in hope he has some fish food on him.

„You must be the Nakajima Kento everyone is talking about, right?“

Kento turns around abruptly and sees a young-looking, tall guy stand in front of him. He’s clothed in weird frilly clothes and leather boots and although they look fancy, Kento can’t help but giggle a little.

„I’m sorry“, Kento mumbles as he gets up. „But you are...?“

„My name is Marius Yo!“, he replies and stretches his hand out to shake Kento’s hand. Kento on the other hand just stares at him, unsure what to do with this gesture so he just bows lightly.

„Oh I’m sorry, I thought it would be common to shake hands in the kingdom that you’re from since you’re a foreigner too“, Marius says in a cheerful voice and proceeds to sit down on the place next to Kento’s previous one.

„I’m not from that far. I’m from the Sato empire. It’s a neighbouring kingdom“, Kento says with a sigh as he sits down again as well. „But maybe you shouldn’t get involved with me because it will only cause you trouble.“

„It’s okay. I doubt that I’ll get into trouble for being here with you. In fact, I’m the son of a famous German translator and businessman who works for prince Kikuchi. He often travels and stops by here so he takes me along on his travels. But sometimes it gets boring because no one dares talking to me or they think I don’t understand their language.“

„Why do I feel like I’m treated exactly the same even though I’m full Japanese...“, Kento murmurs under his breath.

„Oh look, there’s some fishies! How cute!“, Marius says beaming and points to the colourful fish in the water. „I wonder if we can take some Japanese fish back home.“

„To eat?“, Kento asks.

„No as a pet!“

„But they would die...“

„O-of course I know that!“, Marius throws in and blushes. „I was just joking.“

Kento chuckles but decides to make use of the situation and not waste it on pointless chit-chat . „Well... you said that you heard about me, right? What did you hear exactly?“

„Hmm“, Marius leans back and pouts. „Actually just gossip. That you’re new here and a foreigner and that you’re apparently really close to prince Kikuchi...“

Kento almost chokes on his own spit. Ever since he arrived here he has had this strange encounters with the prince and he doesn’t know how to feel about them at all. Even the kiss. Kento wonders if Marius knows about it for some reason.

„I’m not close to him at all!“, Kento denies almost instantly. „I rather feel like he’s completely ignoring me lately... But I don’t know what I did to upset him.“

„Ah, I’m sure you didn’t do anything at all“, Marius assures him. „He’s just busy. And well, he’s not the best at communicating so I’m sure he’ll be waiting for an opportunity to talk to you again.“

„Do you know what he’s like? In private I mean... I heard some pretty intense things so far.“

„Oh I know, he’s known for being tough and strict on the outside... but I think he’s really gentle and loving on the inside. Even to me he’s like a big brother!“ Marius smiles.

„Really?“ _To me it seems more like he’s just playing around._

„Why did you ask me that?“

„Ah, I just wanted to hear your opinion... it seems like you are actually the one who’s pretty close to him.“ Kento watches the fish in the pond in front of him.

„Not really but sometimes I take care of his little siblings for fun when he doesn’t have time himself and when I see him come back and interract with them I think that’s when you can see his true self.“

„Well, I can’t say I’m good with children but if prince Kikuchi at least let me do that I think I’d be less lonely...“ _And I’d be closer to him._

„Lonely? But there’s so many cool things to do here that I was never able to try in Europe!“ Marius’ face lights up as he turns to Kento. „How can you feel lonely?“

„Like what?“, Kento asks and raises a brow as he looks at him in anticipation. _Maybe loneliness means something else to me..._

„Like going to the archery range! It’s a really fun and interesting art form.“

„Hm, I didn’t hold a bow and arrow in my hands for such a long time...“ Kento sighs and turns back to the pond. „I don’t know if I’m in the mood to shoot around for fun.“

„Come on, we should go right now!“, Marius says and casually tugs at Kento’s upper arm. „I’ll show you the range and introduce you to everything if you’re not that good at it...“

_If only you knew..._

However Kento decides to give up seeing how persistent Marius is and wouldn’t let go of him.

„Let’s go!“

 

~~~~~

  
After Kento let Marius lead him to the archery range and they changed into the proper training clothes, they finally enter the big wooden floor room that is completely open on the opposite site, so they are facing a different part of the garden and various targets about 30 metres away from them.

There are no other people training besides them and it looks quite empty. No one is talking and Kento can only hear the sound of the bowstring being pulled back and the arrow hitting the target. However, Kento likes the silence. Maybe he can finally sort his thoughts and even better his combat skills.

„Right-handed or left-handed?“, Marius asks as he is about to choose Kento’s equipment and gear.

„Right-handed“, Kento replies and puts an arm-guard on his bow arm to avoid getting slapped by the bowstring and puts a quiver for the arrows around his waist.

Right after Marius hands him the equipment, Kento positions himself in front of one of the targets with the bow in his left hand. He puts the bow down and pulls the bowstring back with his right hand as he lifts it up again, ready to let go, when suddenly Marius’ voice stops him from doing so.

„Hello prince Fuma! You’re here too?“

Kento startles and lowers his arrow and the bow again, turning around in surprise and not expecting Fuma to stand right behind them at all.

„Marius, how many times have I told you not to come here when I do my private training?!“, Fuma scoffs at him, putting his own bow aside. „I thought Germans were known for their punctuality and order.“

„I’m so sorry! I forgot“, Marius says in shock and bows properly. „I was just so excited to show Kento everything that I didn’t think of it... Of course I’ll leave immediately!“

„Your father was asking for you anyways. You shouldn’t wander around the palace when you actually have stuff to do.“ Fuma shakes his head, looking after Marius who leaves the room in quick steps.

„Me too. I’m sorry“, Kento mumbles and bows quickly, but as he lifts his head up again to run after Marius, Fuma is blocking the way with his arm, preventing Kento to run past by him.

„Not you“, Fuma says. „Actually, I’m kinda curious about your abilities.“

„Y-You want to see me shoot an arrow?“

„How’s your wrist?“, Fuma asks and ignores his question as he grabs Kento’s arm gently to look at it and Kento twitches slightly, still not used to Fuma touching him just whenever he pleases. „Did it heal?“

„Of course it did“, Kento replies, looking down at his wrist. „I told you it wasn’t a serious injury.“

„Good. Then I will teach you.“ Fuma takes Kento’s bow and hands it over to him, Kento still looking at him in surprise. „Take it.“

Kento takes a deep breath before taking the bow again. He looks at Fuma for a few seconds like he’s waiting for more instructions although he knows his starting position very well. Fuma looks at him with a stern face expression and his hair slightly falling over his dark eyes. Kento remembers Marius’ words from before about how Fuma does have a gentle side and that is his true self but no matter how much Kento stares, he can’t quite find it on his face yet.

However, Kento knows there is definitely something appealing about Fuma.

„Position yourself perpendicular to the target and the shooting line and spread your legs apart, about the width of your shoulders.“

Kento does exactly what he is told. He holds the bow up with his left hand and handles the arrow and sting with his right.

„Your posture isn’t good enough“, Fuma mentions and gets closer to Kento. He wraps his right arm around Kento’s shoulder and puts his hand over Kento’s to pull the string back a little further, while he lets his other hand rest on Kento’s waist. „You’re too tight.“

Kento gulps and instead of relaxing, his muscles just tighten up more. He can feel Fuma’s breath on his neck and near his left ear and it kind of tickles but he doesn’t dare moving. Instead he feels like Fuma just presses his body even more against his back.

„You should stand upright without any tension. If you want to be good at archery your stance should be comfortable, yet firm. You have to stand erect, your body forming a ‚T’.“

„I’m comfortable“, Kento answers quick, his eyes focused on the target in front of him but the truth is he’s everything but comfortable with Fuma so close, basically glued, to his body. He doesn’t need to turn his face to know that Fuma’s is right beside his. He can hear it and he can feel it well.

„You’re not, I can feel it. You need your back muscles to relax to pull the arrow back to the anchor point“, Fuma says and he uses his left hand to touch Kento’s back and slide his hand down slowly until he rests it on his behind. „Pinch your buttocks together to bring your pelvis forwards.“

Kento jerks as soon as he feels Fuma’s hand very obviously touching his butt and holding him in place, on a part of his body where he never expected the young prince to touch him.

_Concentrate, Kento, it’s just normal archery training... you’re thinking too much into it..._

„Do you understand?“ Fuma interrupts Kento’s thoughts again.

„Yes, I understand“, Kento replies and tries his best to feel comfortable with Fuma behind him. After a few minutes of just having stared at the target and listened to Fuma’s voice, Kento indeed feels like it’s easier to relax his body with someone guiding him and telling him what to do. Fuma’s body feels strong and warm behind him and Kento has to keep reminding himself that he has to concentrate on the target in front of him and not Fuma at the very moment.

„Good. Now you can nock the arrow“, Fuma says and Kento places the arrow shaft on its rest to attach the back to the bow string, using the nock while pointing the bow towards the ground.

„When you raise and draw your bow you should do it on one fluid motion and focus on the target“, Fuma instructs Kento and helps him hold his bow arm outwards towards the target while his inner elbow is parallel to the ground.

Kento draws his string hand towards his face until he reaches the corner of his mouth and aims at the target.

„Now!“

He lets go of the arrow and it shoots right towards the target. Kento moves his draw hand back and they both watch as the arrow flies and hits the target. Kento can’t see it well but it looks like he almost hit bullseye.

„Wow, not bad“, Fuma praises and finally moves away from Kento’s back. „Congratulations, I don’t think I was that good when I first started.“

„Oh well, it’s not my first time holding a bow and arrow in my hands“, Kento replies casually and instantly regrets it. _Oh crap, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that..._

„I can see that, but-...“

„Prince Kikuchi!“ Suddenly there is a servant standing on the opposite side of the room and they both turn around to look at him. „I am sorry to disturb you but there is an urgent job for you handle.“

„It’s okay I’m coming, I think Nakajima is safe on his own“, Fuma shouts to the servant but Kento can obviously hear the annoyance in his voice. „I’ll be there in a second.“

Kento just looks at him and somehow he is relieved that he doesn’t have to spend too much time alone with Fuma. Being close to him just makes his heart pound like crazy and his legs shiver like they’re going to give in any second.

Before Fuma leaves the room like he’s supposed to, he wraps both of his arms around Kento’s waist this time to pull him closer and leans in to whisper into his ear.

„Thanks for being such an obedient student.“

Kento twitches at the sudden gesture but before he can respond Fuma has already walked away from him.

After calming down for a few minutes he takes the bow into his hands again, a determined look on his face and a weird mushy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He focuses, draws the string and lets go of the arrow in one swift motion. This time the arrow hits bullseye.

_Why does it feel like I shot myself right in the heart when Fuma is supposed to be the target?_

 

~~~~

  
A few exhausting hours later Kento finally manages to shower and take a relaxing bath in one of the big indoor onsen areas. The marble floor room is hot and steamy from the natural spring water and no one else is currently in the onsen, so for Kento this is the perfect opportunity to fully relax by himself and let the day end nicely before he can sneak back to his room to sleep.

He can hear a small water stream peacefully flow into the onsen and besides the sounds of water pouring the room is completely silent.

Kento removes the white towel from his waist and puts it next to him on the edge of the onsen before entering, the hot water immediately engulfing his whole body. Since it’s already night the room is filled with only dim light and it creates an amazing and comfortable atmosphere, Kento feeling his soul relax the more time passes.

Eventually he closes his eyes and sinks his body deeper until the water almost reaches his nose. Finally his mind can go blank and he doesn’t have to worry nor think about anything at all. Hot water really does wonders to his body and even his mind.

Kento is sure he’s half-asleep in the water, that’s how relaxing it is, not even realising that someone else enters it without any prior warning.

When he slightly opens his eyes, he expects Marius or one of the servants or really just anybody in the water but his first reaction upon seeing Fuma sit on the opposite of him, naked and without shame of course, except for a thin towel around his waist, he plunges his head into the water in hope he can disappear in it.

„What are you doing...?“, Fuma asks with a raspy voice as soon as Kento comes up again to gasp for air, rubbing his eyes and pulling his messy wet hair back from his forehead.

„What are _you_ doing? I thought at this late hour everyone went to sleep already...“, Kento says in a fluster and nervously grabs for the towel next to him to cover his naked lower body.

„Well you know it’s my palace and I go here whenever I feel like it“, Fuma replies and raises a brow. „Also, what are you shy about? It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.“

Kento’s face immediately turns red with shame as he remembers his first encounter with Fuma and he averts his gaze, also trying to avoid looking at Fuma’s well-toned body and broad shoulders.

Kento feels stupid for even having said anything so he keeps silent for the next few minutes, trying to think of an excuse to leave the onsen early.

 _But somehow this is also a good chance to get closer to prince Fuma and probably drown him_ , Kento thinks to himself, so he decides maybe he should try to make the best out of the situation.

„So...“, Kento says, trying his best to spark a conversation. „What was the urgent job that you needed to handle earlier today? If I’m allowed to know of course.“

„Financial problems. Seems like my financial advisor calculated something wrongly so now I have quite a big amount of money to pay back to someone“, Fuma tells as he rests his arms back on the edge of the onsen pool. „Nothing really interesting or new. Happens once in a while.“

„Maybe you should try looking through the papers again. Maybe your financial advisor overlooked something...“, Kento replies. „I know when that happened to my dad we went through a lot of documents and he eventually found a few things that were miscalculated.“

„Hmm, you’re right. You’re actually pretty smart too, did you know that?“, Fuma says and in that moment he meets Kento’s gaze. „It’s such a waste that Sato gave you away just like that...“

„Umm...“ Kento doesn’t know what Fuma might imply and if it’s a good or a bad thing. He totally cannot read his character and his behaviour at all.

„I guess he didn’t see the potential in you like I do.“

„Really?“ Kento’s eyes widen in surprise. He knows he wasn’t supposed to give too much away but it seems like Fuma has been thinking that he’s naturally smart and useful.

„Yes. Let me show you something“, Fuma says after a short pause and motions Kento to come over to him with his hand. „Come here.“

Kento gulps and he knows he cannot escape an order anyways but somehow this time it also sparks his curiosity.

As soon as Kento comes close enough to Fuma to be within arm’s reach, Fuma grabs both his hands and pulls him onto his lap, Kento almost crashing his face into his chest.

Their upper bodies were out of the water now and Kento is so close he can see every single drop of water flow down Fuma’s neck and his chest. His heart starts speeding up in excitement and he can feel the water and his body temperature rise up instantly. Fuma is still holding his wrists tightly and Kento feels weird looking down at Fuma from his position on his lap. His own legs are slightly spread as well and he fears his towel is going to come off any second and that is just going to make everything worse and his head feels like it’s exploding, but there’s no time to think when Fuma suddenly proclaims something so loudly.

„How about becoming my first male [concubine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concubinage)?“

Fuma pronounces those words like they’re the most normal thing in the world and while Fuma resumes to look at him with a calm expression, Kento feels like his face has turned as red as a beet. And this time he has no chance of escape. He heard the request loud and clear.

Kento doesn’t know what to think of it. Part of him knows what that means and another still believes that he’s misunderstanding.

„Is this a joke? If it is it-... it’s not very funny“, Kento answers instead. „I thought you wanted me to be your assistant and your friend!“

„Well, I just said that to keep you as close as possible to me...“, Fuma replies and rolls his eyes, as if it should have been clear to Kento from the beginning. „I... uhh, I guess I saw something attractive in you ever since we met.“

It’s the first time Kento has heard Fuma sound really insecure and shy. Like someone confessing their love in an awkward way and in an awkward moment.

„See, I said you’re smart! You totally avoided to answer my question“, he scoffs and Kento can feel his grip tighten on his wrists.

Kento knows he isn’t smart enough to turn the tables. Fuma does and will always have the upper hand between the two of them.

„Everything you wish me to do, I will do it prince Fuma“, Kento answers with his calmest look but is shocked on the inside about his own words. „But I just don’t have much experience in that field of work.“

Finally Kento is able to say the truth for once. He would lie if he says he isn’t scared or uncomfortable, but also oddly attracted to Fuma in some way as well. He’s not sure if it’s because he’s a prince or just good-looking or has been very friendly to Kento on multiple occassions so far.

„Oh, so you’re a virgin. How cute“, Fuma chuckles and Kento just looks at him angrily, like he’s telling him to stop humiliating him even further. Finally Fuma releases the grip on Kento’s wrists but instead he brings his hands up to touch Kento’s flustered face.

„It’s not like I-...“ Kento wants to protest and say that he did not want to avoid the question but in the meantime he doesn’t realise that Fuma moves his face closer and closer until they are only mere centimetres apart, and finally he presses his lips against Kento’s.

Kento’s eyes widen in surprise as he realises that Fuma is kissing him and even though he tries to back off gently, Fuma is steadily holding Kento’s face in his hands.

Kento’s cheeks flame up even more and his body feels like it’s burning. He slowly closes his eyes, unsure of what to do, so he just carefully rests his hands on Fuma’s shoulder and moves in closer automatically, kissing back softly and insecurely.

That seems to surprise Fuma so his hands move back to Kento’s nape, his grip not as strong anymore but Kento can definitely feel goosebumps spread out on his back as Fuma’s hands gently stroke his wet hair.

Fuma’s lips feel so good on Kento’s and he regrets never having the time to kiss someone else before. He doesn’t know what he’s doing so he just follows Fuma’s lead, trying to keep a clear mind and hoping he doesn’t do anything wrong.

As one of Fuma’s hands reach down his back to pull Kento even closer to his body so their pelvises and chests are almost glued to each other, Kento lets out a small squeal and Fuma instantly makes use of the situation to let his tongue slide into his mouth.

He can feel that Kento seems unexperienced and nervous but at least he’s not trying to back off. Instead Kento’s heart starts to pound even harder and without realising, he digs his fingers into Fuma’s shoulders even more.

Fuma tilts his face a little more to get better access as they start to make out heavily, their bodies still half covered in the hot water.

The kissing gets deeper and sloppier and Kento feels like he’s losing the air in his lungs. Unconsciously he starts rubbing his body against Fuma’s while his fingers are digging into his skin, and Fuma wraps his arms around Kento’s waist to pull him even closer, if that is even possible.

Kento panics internally as he feels his arousal grow against Fuma’s, who has the exact same problem. Fuma dares touching a little more, his hands roaming around Kento’s back until he gets a tight grip of Kento’s buttocks.

Kento releases a small moan into the kiss and Fuma moves away slowly, looking at Kento’s beet red face and quivering lips.

As Kento opens his eyes, looking straight at Fuma’s face and his plush lips, he cannot bear it for more than a few seconds so he throws his arms around Fuma and burries his face in his neck.

Although all he can feel right now is shame mixed with a weird kind of arousal, he has to admit Fuma smells just as nice as he tastes. It’s a very distinctive and unique smell, like fresh mint and winter flowers. Even though he cannot hide right now somehow he feels safe in Fuma’s arms.

„I can’t do this“, Kento whimpers into his neck, still holding close onto him as his body shivers.

„I can tell“, Fuma replies calmly while he gently strokes his back. „I won’t force you to do anything that you don’t want to do. Something tells me that I want you to want it like I do.“

After just resting his head on Fuma’s shoulder for a few minutes and letting silence engulf them, Kento finally moves back to face him.

„But that’s what I’m here for“, he says with a small smile.

„What do you mean?“

„For you to make use of me.“

Fuma just looks at him and his own cheeks turn slightly red at Kento’s words. He lovingly strokes Kento’s cheek with his right hand and moves a strand of hair behind Kento’s ear.

„Okay then. Can you turn around for me?“

Kento thinks Fuma wants him to get off his lap but as he tries to climb down, Fuma just helps him turn around and spreads his own legs a little so Kento can sit inbetween them while he wraps his arms around Kento’s trembling chest.

Kento tries to adjust his position but no matter how much he tries, it seems like he rubs his behind even more against Fuma’s hard-on.

„I-I’m sorry...“, Kento mumbles, not sure what he’s apologising for but he feels like he’s burdening Fuma.

„Sssh“, Fuma hums against Kento’s neck and leaves small kisses on his burning cheek. „You don’t have to apologise for anything. It’s completely normal that your body reacts this way in such a situation.“

„But still...“

„How about we try to get rid of the problem?“, Fuma suggests and Kento looks down to his erection that is barely covered by the thin towel and he instantly tries covering it with his hands.

„It’s not that important, really!“, Kento retorts. „It’ll go away naturally.“

„Is that how you always handle it? No wonder you’re moody all the time“, Fuma says with a chuckle. „Why not try doing it for me then? Or did you never do it and want me to teach you?“

Kento isn’t even shivering from the difference in temperature in the water and outside, but his body is actually burning hot from excitement.

„I know how to do it...“, Kento replies under his breath.

„Then show me.“ Kento can feel himself grow even harder at Fuma’s raspy voice and his choice of words, giving him definite orders.

He is thankful that at least he doesn’t have to do it while facing Fuma, he already feels embarrassed enough in this position and Fuma’s own erection constantly reminding him of the situation he’s in.

Slowly he removes the towel from his lower body and it easily comes off, Fuma helping him throw it to the side impatiently. Without waiting too long he wraps his right hand around his erect dick and starts stroking slowly.

Every stroke feels incredibly pleasurable and better than it did ever before, making his whole body twitch and just move back against Fuma’s front even more.

Fuma groans faintly against Kento’s neck and he gently bites the skin under Kento’s right ear. „You’re doing it nicely. Keep going faster. Does it feel good?“

„Mhhm.“ Kento tries his best to hold his voice back and bites his lips as hard as he can because he knows as soon as he opens his mouth he will begin to get louder.

„Let me hear your voice. You have a beautiful voice“, Fuma says and then proceeds to carefully lick the part of skin that he has bit before and Kento slowly but surely increases the speed of his hand, now stroking more roughly.

„Let me see you come.“

Kento fears he won’t be able to last much longer and even if it barely took a few minutes, Fuma’s voice drives him over the edge. His hand begins to shiver and without him even noticing Fuma grabs his shivering hand and helps him finish off in swift, rapid movements.

As Kento comes over his own and Fuma’s hand with a loud moan that echoes slightly in the steamy room, he throws his head back on Fuma’s shoulder and presses his back even more into him, like his body wants him to do it no matter what.

„Good boy“, Fuma says and kisses Kento’s cheek, then removes strands of hair from his forehead and his eyes. „I’m proud of you.“

Kento just sits between his legs breathing heavily, his back still pressed against Fuma’s chest. He’s still not able to process what has just happened nor what is going to happen next but as his body slowly calms down, his mind becomes less clouded.

„Looks like you’ll just have to shower again, I’m sorry“, Fuma says and chuckles.

„W-what about you?“ Suddenly it hits Kento that he just got his own release but Fuma was still hard. He turns around and gulps as his eyes wander down to Fuma’s bulge hidden behind the thin towel.

„Don’t worry about me“, Fuma says and leans closer to Kento to leave a small kiss against the corner of his lips. „I can take care of myself. You should go to sleep, it’s already late.“

„But-...“

„It’s an order, okay?“

Seeing Fuma’s serious face expression right in front of him, Kento knows that he isn’t joking.

„Or do you miss me already?“ Fuma throws him a mischievous look and now Kento knows that he is definitely joking, so Kento smiles at him sheepishly.

Kento quickly grabs the towel besides them to cover himself as he gets out of the onsen, bows slightly and tiptoes out of the room. On the way out he realises he hasn’t looked back nor told Fuma a proper good night. He just sits in front of the bench where he left the rest of his clothes and stares at them like they are going to give him the answers that he’s looking for.

It seems like instead of getting close to Fuma to wound him, Fuma got close to him instead and witnessed his most vulnerable state of mind.

Kento gulps and clutches his chest. His heart is still pounding hard and he doesn’t know what to do to make it stop, no matter how much he tries.

Suddenly he thinks about the training he underwent the last four years. He has learned so many things in those fours years, he finished every course with top grades and mastered every skill but there is still something that no one ever mentioned to him.

And that is what you’re supposed to do when you can’t control your own emotions anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter is a mess and also there's smut :'D

                                                                        

 

Kento casually lies on his back between a bunch of pillows in one of the libraries, reading a book. It’s a romance novel and even though he told himself not to read those kind of books anymore a long while ago, convincing himself that real love simply doesn’t exist anyways, he feels himself get lost in the book’s story.

Reading greedily and not even thinking about the time, Kento just lies there for hours, sometimes the whole day. He feels like if he stops he will miss an important part of the story.

But today he feels like it’s difficult concentrating. He keeps thinking about Fuma’s words.

_How about becoming my first male concubine?_

Kento really did never before think about the life of a concubine, nor was he trained to be successful in such a career. He did talk casually to a few girls back then who were Shori’s concubines, he never asked them about their lives though, but they were all very pretty and seemed to like what they were doing.

Kento thinks about how unfitting he is for that job.

„Nakajima Kento?“

Kento looks up from his book to see a servant in front of him, his arms casually laid back behind his back.

„Yes?“

„Please come with me.“

„Umm, to where?“, Kento asks as he gets up and puts the book back onto one of the shelves.

„In front of the palace. Prince Kikuchi asks for you“, the servant replies.

Kento immediately stiffens. „What does the prince want from me?“

„That I do not know“, the servant says apologetically. „Please follow me.“

The servant walks in front of him and Kento follows close by, wondering what Fuma is going to expect from him outside of the palace. Ever since he arrived here he didn’t get the chance to explore the kingdom outside of the palace. The only times he has been allowed to go out was with a few other servants to pick up groceries and bring them back.

Somehow Kento is a little excited and daydreams about the things he could do outside.

As the servant leads him out through the big stone gates, Kento suddenly remembers he doesn’t even have enough time to check his appearance and he tries his best to fix his hair with his hands while being escorted outside.

He’s completely taken aback upon seeing Fuma in front of him sitting on top of a tall white horse. There are two baskets attached to each side of the saddle and the horse looks well-kept and majestic, just perfectly brought up for a true prince.

Fuma climbs down his horse in one elegant motion and his leather boots make a loud thud on the ground. 

„Did you ever ride a horse before?“, Fuma asks while he holds the reins in one of his hands to keep the horse calm by his side.

„Yes but... animals in general just don’t seem to like me very much...“, Kento explains and carefully takes a few steps towards Fuma, stopping in front of the horse.

„Ah, there’s no need to be afraid of Shiro. She’s very gentle“, Fuma pats the mare’s forehead while talking to her. „Right, Shiro?“

The horse just huffs in response and moves its head slightly. Fuma looks back at Kento again and Kento carefully stretches his hand out to pat Shiro as well, the fur feeling incredibly soft under his fingertips.

„So, let’s get ready for a little excursion, shall we?“, Fuma says and now offers his hand stretched out to Kento. „I’ll help you get up so you can sit behind me.“

„What? Ride on Shiro’s back with you?“, Kento asks again to make sure.

„Yes. Or do you see another horse nearby?“ Fuma laughs and Kento decides to listen, gladly taking Fuma’s hand into his to help him mount the horse. He places his left foot into the left stirrup and pulls his body upward so he can swing his other leg around Shiro’s body. The horse remains calm during the whole procedure, Fuma watching its head to make sure it doesn’t start moving around too much.

„Comfortable enough?“, Fuma asks as he climbs up to sit in front of Kento, securing his feet in the stirrups and keeping the reins slack. „If you’re ready you should hold onto me and I’ll make Shiro move so we can finally go.“

„Umm, actually, why can’t I ride my own horse?“, Kento asks as he carefully put his arms around Fuma’s waist to hold onto his jacket. „I’m sure you own more than one.“

„Because!“ Fuma let’s out an annoyed scoff and Kento wishes he could see his face right now but unfortunately he is only facing his back. „Stop asking annoying questions now.“

Kento chuckles and contentedly leans his head against Fuma’s shoulder, wrapping his arms a little bit tighter around Fuma’s torso. Kento laughs because it is so obvious that Fuma just wants him to be close to him and Kento would lie if he says he doesn’t enjoy it at least a little.

The horse gallops and increases its speed as they leave the common riding route and the wall of the kingdom behind them and continue their way on a small soil path.

Kento wonders where Fuma is taking him since their journey has already taken longer than 30 minutes and they are outside of the safe kingdom zone, but he doesn’t ask. He enjoys the countryside view, the mountains, the paddy fields and the fresh wind that’s blowing through their hair.

„We’re here“, Fuma says all of a sudden and tightens the rains to make the horse slow down. Kento instantly moves his head up to look around but all he can see is the green countryside and a huge tree with golden leaves in front of them.

As the horse stops, Fuma is the first to jump down before he stretches both his arms out to help Kento get down as well. Kento still looks around bewilderedly, trying to figure out if he’s missing something.

„Where are we?“

„This place doesn’t really have a name since it doesn’t belong to anyone rightfully. It’s a small buffer zone between my, Sato’s and a northern kingdom. It’s the outskirts basically“, Fuma replies as he ties his horse to the tree and lets it rest. „But it’s my favourite place in the world. I come here when I need to distance myself from everything and everyone for a while.“

Kento realises Fuma doesn’t need anything special for a place to be special. There’s just a tree and a meadow in front of them after all.

„Why did you bring me here then if it’s your special place?“

„To show you of course“, he says while taking the two baskets from the horse and places them under the tree. „Actually this is a cherry blossom tree so it looks way prettier during spring time but sadly I cannot manipulate the seasons.“

„No not at all, I think it looks really pretty. And it looks like the tree is really old already“, Kento says, nervously playing with the hem of his shirt. He knows that for sure Fuma did not bring him here to talk about trees and nature.

„I thought we could have a picnic here.“ Fuma spreads out a blanket on the green grass underneath them and places the baskets besides it. Kento just watches, still unaware of what’s happening, since it is so unusual to see Fuma do something himself and not a servant do it for him. „Let’s sit down and eat.“

Kento listens and sits down next to Fuma, watching him as he unpacks small lunch boxes from the basket and places them besides them, then takes out a bottle and two small glasses.

„We should drink a toast first.“

„A toast to who?“, Kento asks as Fuma hands him the glass and pours the liquid inside of it. Everything Fuma does, actually Kento is supposed to do it. Pour alcohol to the prince, make sure he sits comfortably, escort him to places... Kento doesn’t feel like a slave in Fuma’s presence at all.

„To us“, Fuma replies and clinks glasses with him before he chugs the plum-flavoured drink down, Kento doing the same. Maybe the alcohol will make him relax more.

„For being awesome?“, Kento says with an awkward smile.

„Yeah, something like that.“ Fuma laughs and Kento looks at him, eventually ending up laughing as well, thinking how contagious Fuma’s laugh actually is. Since Fuma isn’t someone who likes talking much, Kento is afraid the prince will feel bored with him or it will create an unpleasant atmosphere, but he doesn’t feel like that at all.

He actually feels very comfortable, even if he clearly remembers what has happened that night in the onsen. Maybe a little bit too comfortable. Kento always has to be ready to fulfil his goal. He’s not here for chit-chat and drinks after all.

„We should eat something“, Fuma says and interrupts his thoughts once again. „But I thought we should make it into a fun little game.“

„Game?“

„Let me blindfold you and you have to guess which fruits I’m giving you to eat. You better win or you’re going to owe me one.“

Kento looks at him in surprise when he mentions the blindfold part but he’s confident that he can guess everything right. The past fours years he has been eating nothing but delicacies after all.

„Okay, I’ll do it“, Kento says and sits down properly on his knees. „But what if I guess them all right?“

„Then I’ll give you a reward instead.“ Fuma crawls behind him to put a piece of silk cloth over his eyes and tie it on the back of his head. „Can you see anything?“

„I see black.“

„Good. You better not betray me.“

Kento gulps. Isn’t that what he’s doing all along?

Fuma grabs a strawberry from one of the boxes and stuffs it into his mouth first, tasting the juicy fruit.

„Mhm, it tastes so good. Open up“, he tells to Kento who obediently opens his mouth, waiting for Fuma to feed him.

Fuma takes another strawberry and carefully pushes it against Kento’s lips so he can take it into his mouth and eat.

„Strawberry!“, Kento yells out as soon as he swallows.

„Yes, you guessed it right.“ Kento smiles at his victory.

Fuma continues to pick up other fruits and Kento manages to guess them all right, not in favour of Fuma who actually hates losing. He lets Kento eat grapes, avocado, mango and even exotic fruits like yuzu which don’t grow nearby, but Kento’s taste buds are better than what Fuma expected them to be.

Slowly but surely Fuma is running out of fruits and he also feels quite full by now, having eaten all the fruits in the meantime while Kento was tasting and eating them with the blindfold on.

„Okay last one I promise“, Fuma says and Kento positions himself up straight with his lips slightly apart. He expects Fuma to give him another easy fruit to guess but he’s taken aback when all of a sudden he feels Fuma’s lips against his.

The last one is actually not a fruit but Fuma’s kiss.

Kento is surprised but he kisses back, still tasting the plum liquor on Fuma’s tongue. He tilts his head slightly and feels Fuma’s hand on his nape to bring him closer.

He feels lightheaded with Fumas lips against his and when he kisses a little deeper to taste a little more of Fuma, Fuma leans back and interrupts the kiss. Kento blushes because that has just made him look like he is the one desperate for touch and Fuma’s kisses.

„You can take off the blindfold now, you’ve won“, Fuma says and Kento instantly fumbles with the piece of cloth behind his head to untie it and finally be able to look Fuma in the eyes. „The kiss was your reward.“

Kento snorts. „What? Why is that my reward? I mean I’m not complaining but I would-...“

„Kento, I need to ask you something.“ Fuma looks at him with a serious face expression and Kento gulps. He can’t remember if Fuma ever called him by his first name only before and it feels so odd to him. So familiar and yet so strange.

„Y-yes?“

„I want to know more about you.“

„What do you mean?“

„I want to know more about you as a person. About your past, about your family, your hobbies, what you like, what you hate... About your favourite fruits for example.“ Fuma takes another strawberry and bites into it and Kento just looks at him, his face still blushing and his heart still beating hard.

It is the first time ever someone genuinely wants to know about Kento’s life and Kento doesn’t expect that at all, especially not from someone like Fuma. He doesn’t even know where to start.

„I don’t think there’s anything interesting or important to tell you about my life...“, Kento says nervously.

„I don’t mind whatever it is.“

„Well, I grew up as the only son of a swordsmith and a mother who helped her husband out with his business. My parents weren’t really educated much but they always made sure I went to school so I could sell my fathers company one day and make something more out of myself“, Kento tells while he watches the countryside in front of them. „When I was 16 my parents died in an accident but you already know that... And afterwards I couldn’t pay back my fathers debt so prince Sato offered me a job at his palace.“

„So you became a slave...“

„It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, really“, Kento says with a forced smile. „By the way, it’s bananas.“

„Huh?“

„My favourite fruits are bananas.“

„Ah, damn it!“, Fuma curses. „I thought bananas were too simple so I didn’t bring any with us.“

„It’s okay, I enjoyed all the other fruits actually“, Kento replies with a giggle.

They stay silent for a few minutes and the only thing that can be heard are the leaves rustling and the fresh land breeze. Kento shivers slightly. In a hurry he forgot to take his jacket with him and he was sitting there only in a thin shirt.

„You’re cold“, Fuma remarks and shifts closer to him.

„It’s not that bad...“, Kento replies but Fuma is already taking his own jacket off and putting it over Kento’s shoulders.

„You need to stop saying _‚It’s not that bad’_ and _‚It’s okay’_ when it’s not okay at all. Seriously, it’s fine if you don’t feel fine all the time. I want you to be honest with your feelings because it’s annoying when you’re not.“

Fuma leans backwards to lie on his back and puts his arms behind his head so he can watch the blue sky above him. There are a few clouds and the sun only shows itself once in a while through them.

Kento sighs deeply. Fuma’s words seem to have hit him harder than he thought. „But now you’ll be cold.“

Fuma doesn’t give an answer so Kento lies down as well, but instead of doing it besides him he cuddles up next to his body and lies his head on Fuma’s chest, throwing an arm around his body to keep him warm with his body heat.

Fuma startles for a short moment, not expecting Kento to be the one to get closer to him this time but he doesn’t dislike the idea. Instead he brings his arms down to hug Kento and stroke his hair.

„What about you?“, Kento asks.

„What?“

„What about your life? Your past? Your family?“

„Well... If I start complaining about my life I’ll feel like an idiot because compared to you I don’t really have a sob story to tell.“

„But still... I want to know“, Kento says seriously. „How does it feel like being a prince?“

„Well, not always as great as I wish it would be. It’s lots of work and even more responsibility... you’re responsible for all those people’s lives that work for you, your kingdom worships you and watches your every move... But when you do the right things it can be a pretty rewarding feeling. Sometimes life gives you something good back.“

„What about your family?“

„I love my family and I have to admit I’m a total family person but my parents are so old already and my two younger siblings still very young, so most of the time I feel very lonely as a prince and I feel like no one dares to step up to me. Like, no one tries to understand me as much as I try explaining myself, they only treat me like a prince and not like a friend or someone who’s on the same page as them...“

Fuma doesn’t realise it but Kento props himself up on his arms so he can look down at Fuma and then leans in closer to hastily kiss him on the lips.

This time it’s Fuma who is surprised and he freezes on the spot, although by now he alreaedy should have gotten used to Kento’s soft lips and his beautiful eyes and his darn, mesmerising smile.

„I can be the one who will try his best to understand you“, Kento says after he breaks the kiss off slowly and leans back.

Fuma quickly sits up again and for the first time Kento can see his cheeks turn to a rosy colour. „Y-you can’t see me as an equal! You’re just a slave after all.“

Kento sighs in disappointment. „Why are you always bringing that up right when I was about to forget it?“ _He’s so bipolar, I really don’t know what to do to get closer to him._

„Actually, it will get dark soon and we should head back before that happens“, Fuma says as he gets up and stretches his hand out. „Come on.“

Kento grabs Fuma’s hand and stretches his limbs. They have been lying down for a longer time now and it felt nice to be able to talk with someone about serious topics. However, Kento hasn’t really been able to smarten up about Fuma.

He’s still a mystery to Kento although now at least he does know that even a prince can feel lonely.

   
~~~~~

 

Kento finds himself following Fuma around for the next few days. Fuma sometimes takes him along to tea ceremonies and little excursions but a prince has his responsibilities and work to do so Kento ends up just strolling around the palace once again.

As he is just walking around, he keeps reminding himself of everything that has happened so far. The intimate moment in the onsen, the emotional date in the outskirts... Kento really can’t figure out what is happening recently between him and Fuma.

He wishes he could just ask Fuma, _what are we right now because I don’t feel like we have a prince-slave-relationship?!_

And Kento wouldn’t want that. Somehow he feels disappointed at the thought of Fuma simply replacing him soon.

Not to forget, his mission would fail. He can’t let that happen. He needs to remember why he’s here in the first place and Fuma causing the butterflies in his stomach is just another obstacle he has to clear out of his way.

Walking through one of the many corridors, Kento stops when he suddenly hears Fuma’s voice coming from one of the rooms.

„I don’t think that is a good idea...“

„But sooner or later you have to go through this. It’s every prince’s responsibility.“ A female voice.

Kento’s heart starts beating faster. He knows he shouldn’t be eavesdropping on others but because it’s Fuma his curiosity sparks and he leans closer to the ajar door to peak inside.

He can see it’s one of his office rooms and Fuma is sitting on the desk with some papers in his hands and a pretty girl in a long gown and dark hair that she’s wearing in a neat bun very close next to him, pointing at something on the said papers.

Kento wishes he could open the door slightly further to see more but what he’s already seeing makes him frown enough.

„I don’t want to go through a list to decide on a perfect girl.“ He can hear Fuma sigh deeply. „I want to talk to her first and get to know her.“

„Do you want to let me decide it for you then?“, the girl says and Kento doesn’t like the casual tone she uses to speak with Fuma. „Or your parents? You have a lot of freedom compared to some other people...“

„I know but... can’t you just make me forget all of this struggle for a while?“, Fuma whines and grabs the girl’s hand. „Why do you love seeing me suffer all the time?“

Kento can see the girl smile shyly. „It’s not that... You’re just fooling around again. You need to get serious.“

Kento digs his nails into the palms of his hands and he feels a rush of sadness overcome him suddenly. Or was it anger? Disappointment?

_Control your emotions, Kento, it’s none of your business..._

„Hey, Kento!“ All of a sudden there is Marius standing behind him and Kento startles but instantly puts a finger over his lips to shush him, then grabs his arm and drags him around the next corner.

„Who were you listening to?“, Marius asks in a whisper as soon as he’s allowed to speak again.

„No one but you really chose a great timing to scare me!“, Kento scolds him.

„I’m sorry“, Marius apologises and bows slightly.

„It’s okay. What did you want to tell me?“

„Oh, I just ran into you and wanted to tell you if you know about the big party tonight? Since you’re new here and everything.“

„What party?“, Kento asks. „Actually I wanted to sleep early tonight.“

„Guess you won’t be able to do that because it can get really loud. It’s a national holiday, actually it’s the day when the Kikuchi empire took over this land and founded this kingdom!“, Marius tells him enthusiastically. „And every year on that day there’s a big celebration in the evening and the following day. Everyone gets to eat free food, drinks and have fun with great live music and friends in the big dining hall and the royal garden.“

„I’m not really a party person...“, Kento replies with a sigh. „And I don’t feel well anyways. I’ll just listen to the party from my room.“

„Nooo, I can’t accept that! If you’re not feeling well then you have just another reason to go, hm? I promise it will cheer you up.“

„Hmm. I don’t know.“

„I promise!“

„Okay, okay. Maybe you’re right. I’ll go have a drink and listen to the music“, Kento finally gives in and looks at Marius who seems to be happy with his accomplishment.

Maybe some distraction will be good for him after all.

 

~~~~~

 

Kento finds himself in the dining hall at about 10 o’clock in the evening to check out that amazing party Marius has been really keen on.

To him it looks like a regular party with a mass of people sitting in groups at tables, drinking and hollering, some people are dancing and having a good time with themselves or a partner and the music is definitely getting everyone in the mood.

The room smells like delicious barbeque food and Kento decides maybe he can grab a bite to satisfy his growling stomach and have a drink to forget his exhausting day.

„Ah, the handsome foreigner’s here!“, a guy yells suddenly and grabs Kento’s arm to pull him to his table. „Sit down with us and have a drink!“

Kento doesn’t even have time to protest or decline as he’s already sitting down at a table, a glass of sake being poured in front of him.

„Have a drink and chat with us“, another guy, sitting right next to Kento, chimes in and pours him another glass right after Kento has chugged down the first one.

„You’re originally from Sato’s kingdom, right?“, the first guy says. „Tell us some juicy stories or secrets about him!“

„What? What kind of secrets...?“, Kento asks, unsure of what he’s supposed to say. He’s not sure if it’s because of the music or because of himself but he can barely hear them talk.

In front of him on the opposite side of the table he recognises the girl with the blue flower in her hair, the one who warned him about Fuma on his first day here. Their eyes meet but she doesn’t avert her gazes like most girls do, she just keeps looking at him with a straight face. Kento cannot say that she doesn’t look extremely pretty now that he’s observing her for a longer while, in dim light and with alcohol in his system.

He drinks his third shot in one go and instantly gets a new one presented in front of him.

„There’s no secrets...“, Kento mumbles but he’s not sure what he has been replying to that already.

„Sato’s secrets“, one of the guys remind him and he laughs. „For example, is it true that prince Sato enjoys torture? Like, there’s this rumour...“

Kento wishes he could listen properly to what the guys around him are talking about but he feels like his mind becomes more clouded with each minute and his surroundings more and more blurred.

The sake in front of him tastes great and the bitter taste of alcohol mixed with delicious yakitori is just the right thing he needs on his tongue. But the more shots he takes the more he becomes unaware of his surroundings.

He doesn’t even notice that the girl in front of him has disappeared and now gently taps him on the shoulder and leans down to whisper in his ear. „Do you mind going outside for a moment? You look like you need some fresh air.“

Without protesting Kento gets up to follow her and that is when he realises that he can barely stand on his own two feet without wobbling from side to side.

The girl stops when they reach the garden outside and get away from the loud music and the people but Kento still doesn’t feel any better, he just feels like his knees are going to give in any second.

„We should sit down“, she says and carefully sits down in front of a small fireplace in the garden, patting the place next to her. „I’m sorry for not having introduced myself earlier. My name is Kiyoko.“

„What a pretty name. I’m Kento“, he says with a drunken voice. „I know we met on my first day in the kingdom... how long ago was that already? It’s been months.“

„Yes, it has. And it looks like you’ve already gotten used to living here and had a lot of fun with girls“, Kiyoko says and points to Kento’s neck. „You have a hickey.“

Kento touches his neck in embarrassment and immediately remembers the night with Fuma in the onsen. „It’s not like that, really...“

„Or did you already manage to get it on with prince Fuma?“

Kento almost chokes on his own spit upon hearing that. „What?! No... of course not.“

„Well, you are very attractive... I wouldn’t be surprised if he already had sex with you“, she says bluntly and moves closer to Kento, until she’s right in front of his face and puts her hands on his chest.

And then without a warning she kisses him.

Kento’s eyes widen in shock but since he’s completely drunk he doesn’t do anything but lets her kiss him. She tastes and feels so much more different than Fuma. She feels softer and more fragile, but also more eager.

Without Kento noticing it, she straddles his lap all while she continues kissing him, his lips, his face, his neck, and eventually she grabs Kento’s right hand to lead it to under her dress and between her legs.

That’s when Kento realises what he’s doing and he finally pushes her off, gets up and backs off in panic. „I’m sorry and you’re very pretty and attractive but I can’t do this. I can’t cheat on someone I love.“

Kento bows quickly and runs back inside through the corridors, trying to calm his racing heart. The alcohol is still there, making him feel dizzy and lightheaded and he almost trips over his own two feet but at least he manages to save himself from a dangerous situation.

„What do you think you are doing?“

Kento hopes he’s just hearing voices in his head but as he looks up and sees Fuma stand in front of him, looking nothing but pleased, he knows he isn’t going to be treated lightly this time.

„I’m just... I just took a break outside?“

„Do you think I’m stupid and didn’t see you outside with Kiyoko?!“, Fuma yells. „Why in the world are you getting involved with such a dumb bitch?“

„I wasn’t, she told me to just go outside for a second and-...“

„You’re coming with me“, Fuma scoffs and grabs Kento’s wrist to forcefully drag him along.

He takes him to their bedroom and closes the door behind them, Kento standing in front of the huge bed like he’s frozen on the spot. The room only has dim light and it’s pretty silent for the fact that there’s a huge party going on on the other side of the palace.

„Do you know who I hate even more than whores?“, Fuma says with furrowed brow as he steps closer to Kento. „People who drink recklessly.“

Kento gulps and opens his mouth to apologise, or say anything to defend himself, even with the alcohol in his system he knows he really screwed up this time but he can’t because Fuma immediately cuts him off.

„On your knees. Now.“

Kento obeys and gets on his knees in front of Fuma and if his cheeks didn’t burn up from the alcohol by now, they sure do now from all the embarrassment.

„Look at you, on your knees again. Doesn’t that remind you of our first encounter?“, Fuma scoffs and when Kento tries to look away, he just grabs his chin and forces him to look him in the eyes. „Are you even aware that your future could have turned out to be completely different? You should be happy to be here with me.“

„I am happy“, Kento mumbles. It is the truth. He doesn’t remember the last time he has been as happy as during the time he has spent with Fuma.

„Doesn’t seem that way. You’re being pretty ungrateful.“

Kento sighs and looks up to him, his hands neatly folded between his legs. „What should I do to make it up to you?“

„How about using your mouth for something more useful than drinking too much and talking nonsense?“

The words sting in Kento’s mind and as Fuma undoes his yukata to reveal his bulge right in front of Kento’s face, he knows what the request implies, so Kento brings his hands up to touch Fuma but he’s stopped from doing so.

„Keep your hands down. I only want your mouth.“

Kento thinks it’s silly and he blames the alcohol but he can already feel himself grow hard just by hearing Fuma’s raspy voice giving him clear instructions.

He leans in a little closer and Fuma automatically starts rubbing his crotch against Kento’s face and even though he still has his underwear on, Kento can feel his hard-on pulsate against his cheeks.

„Touch yourself while you suck me off“, Fuma says with a stern voice after he lets his underwear slide down and his cock now presses against Kento’s cheek and the corner of his mouth. „But don’t come until I tell you to do so.“

Kento’s right shaky hand disappears under his own yukata and he slowly starts rubbing himself through his underwear. He knows as soon as he speeds up he will bring himself to the edge so he tries his best to concentrate on pleasuring Fuma and less on himself.

Without hesitating Fuma pushes his cock against Kento’s half-open lips. Kento has never done anything like this before so he feels very unsure about himself but it’s too late anyways when Fuma eagerly slides his erection into Kento’s mouth and the small choking noises Kento makes while Fuma hits the back of his throat are so exciting that Fuma thinks he won’t last for too long.

Kento only lets out muffled moans that send vibrations straight to Fuma’s dick, who slowly increases his speed on fucking Kento’s mouth. Kento automatically tries to back off, his mouth feeling too full but Fuma holds him in place steadily.

Fuma is too mesmerised by the way Kento’s pretty lips look around his cock and he thrusts in a little more, just to see Kento choke a little more too.

However, Kento somehow manages to keep his gag reflex under control, slowly bobbing his head up and down as he lets his tongue work over the slit.

„Fuck, I’m going to come soon“, Fuma groans and grabs Kento’s messy hair with his hands to help him move his head faster. Kento twitches at the sudden touch and moans around Fuma’s dick and he knows Fuma is going to reach his climax soon.

Like he expects it, Fuma picks up pace and before Kento is able to form another clear thought, he comes in his mouth and Kento pulls away immediately, the bitterness already on the tip of his tongue. Fuma finishes jacking himself off completely on Kento’s face and Kento shuts his eyes close, the white liquid spread over his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, his lips and his hair.

Fuma admires him for a solid minute before he crouches down in front of him and pulls out a handkerchief to wipe the come off of Kento’s flustered cheeks and his heavy-lidded eyes.

„Actually, come on your face suits you really well...“, Fuma says and chuckles.

Kento wants to say something, anything, but the words he wants to say get stuck in his throat so he remains silent, breathing heavily. But he is smart enough to see that Fuma is still angry with him.

„Please“, Kento pleads finally and puts the last pieces of his dignity aside.

„Please what?“

„I want you“, Kento replies and Fuma can see his legs and arms tremble. „Please let me come, too.“

„Get on the bed and take your clothes off“, Fuma commands and Kento doesn’t need to be told that twice, his hard-on is straining against the fabric of his underwear and he gladly frees himself.

He doesn’t manage to remove his yukata completely from his shoulders so it casually falls over his bare body and exposes his chest and lower parts to Fuma, who just pushes Kento down onto the mattress and instantly starts attacking his neck with kisses.

Kento can only release small whimpering noises as Fuma kisses his neck and licks down the pale skin from Kento’s collarbones to his navel. Kento’s body shudders under Fuma’s touch but he decides that it’s best to comply and let Fuma do with his body what he wants to.

It doesn’t take long until he can feel Fuma’s fingers probing at his entrance and something wet following right after but Kento can’t quite make out what, he just lies there, his mind clouded with pleasure.

Kento squirms and his body naturally tries to get away from the intrusion but Fuma smirks and restrains Kento from escaping by holding him in place as he slowly pushes a finger inside of him.

„There’s no need to fight back. I can see how much your body wants it.“

Kento feels Fuma’s breath on his neck and he moves his finger around experimentally and Kento squirms even more, shutting his eyes close as he buries his fingers in the bedsheet underneath him.

He doesn’t notice when Fuma squeezes a second finger in and the stretchs burns but it still feels so good in his mind, he can’t help but let out a yelp.

Kento’s dick is so hard to the point that he thinks he’s able to come just with the help of Fuma’s fingers inside of him. Fuma thrusts in a little harder and Kento whines in pain and pleasure.

„Enough, please. I need you.“ Kento grabs Fuma’s biceps and digs his fingers into the skin.

„I think you’re ready“, Fuma says with a victorious smile. With these words he spreads Kento’s thighs even further apart, aligns himself right at Kento’s hole and thrusts in with one swift motion.

Kento arches his back and screams loudly as Fuma enters him with almost no lubrication. Fuma is impatient in general so he doesn’t waste a lot of time on waiting. His thick, throbbing cock is buried deep inside of Kento and presses painfully against his sensitive spot.

„You feel so hot and tight“, Fuma groans above him and looks at Kento’s face being twisted in pleasure. He looks so beautiful in Fuma’s eyes, sprawled out underneath him that he almost forgets to move.

„I’m going to move now“, he announces and thrusts his hips up properly in sharp, long moves and fucks Kento with growing pace. Kento only moans and cries out loudly when Fuma hits his prostate dead-on.

Fuma groans louder and grabs Kento’s slender legs even harder when Kento clenches around his manhood and almost drives him over the edge. Anytime Fuma brushes against Kento’s prostate, Kento’s body twitches and he digs his fingers even more into Fuma, his own heart beating a billion beats per second.

„You can come now“, Fuma urges and Kento can feel him smirk devilishly against his neck. A shiver runs down Kento’s spine and he can feel his own release build up so he reaches down to wrap his hand around his cock.

„No, without your hands“, Kento hears Fuma say and he instantly grabs both of his wrists to bring them above Kento’s head, all the while he continues to ram into him roughly, filling him up to the hilt.

Even though Fuma isn’t holding him too tight, Kento just throws his head back and moans in pleasure.

The throbbing erection between Kento’s legs starts to pain really bad and his body urges him to give in already. Kento has nothing else left but to nod his head in defeat and Fuma chuckles at his victory, watching Kento thrash around as he comes over his stomach with a loud cry and without any touch to his dick.

With Kento’s beautiful face right in front of him and the tight heat around his cock Fuma can feel himself get closer to his climax again as well so he speeds up a notch. Kento doesn’t wince that much anymore when he feels Fuma push in and out of him with ease and Fuma leans down to press his lips against Kento’s.

He kisses him passionately while he gives Kento the last few rough thrusts before he comes inside of him with a loud groan.

The pleasure is so overwhelming that Kento’s body doesn’t quite register when Fuma pulls out of him carefully. He leaves small kisses on his neck and his collarbones, whispering sweet nothings against Kento’s pale skin.

Fuma flops onto the bedsheets next to Kento while he breathes heavily and waits for his body to calm down. A few minutes pass and he feels like passing out but something is bothering him on his mind.

„Fuma?“

„Hm?“, Fuma hums and props himself up to look down at Kento with a smile, gently stroking strands of hair from his face.

„I love you“, Kento says all of a sudden, the alcohol still lingering in his system to give him enough confidence to be able to pronounce those words. However, his feelings are true. „Not because you’re a prince but because you’re Fuma.“

Fuma’s eyes widen in surprise, not having expected a confession at all. He was actually scared that he has been too rough to Kento tonight. Yet, he can’t quite take him serious.

„You’re drunk.“

„And you still don’t know the truth about me“, Kento says and turns his head to the side when Fuma wants to kiss him.

„What do you mean?“

„I can’t tell you or you would hate me“, Kento mumbles to no one in particular. His tongue is quicker than his mind tonight and he hopes Fuma doesn’t question his weird behaviour.

„You seriously shouldn’t drink so much next time. You made me worry“, Fuma says and ruffles Kento’s messy hair, then presses a kiss to his cheek. „And I love you too. But you’re too drunk so your confession doesn’t count... I want to hear those words again from you tomorrow when you sober up.“

Kento gulps and Fuma cuddles up behind him when he turns to the side. „You’re being too nice to me... You’re both princes but you’re so different from prince Sato.“

„Did he hurt you?“, Fuma says with an angry tone in his voice as he turns his head to look at Kento’s heavy-lidded puppy eyes. „I would hate that just thinking about it.“

„No, but I’m happy to be here.“ Kento closes his eyes and grabs Fuma’s hand to hold in front of him.

Fuma pulls the bedcover over their naked bodies and blows out the oil lamp and candles on the nightstand next to them.

Kento drifts off to sleep with Fuma’s warm body next to him and his arms holding him close. He feels like he can finally let himself fall into someone’s embrace and although he is scared, he feels content for some reason.

_Is this how love feels like?_

He falls asleep while Fuma faintly hums a melody against his neck.

 

                                                                      


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not the last chapter! I decided to split it because it was getting too long and too many dramatic things happening at once. So this one is actually super short compared to the other chapters, sorry! :D There are some things that need to be resolved in the last chapter, I wonder what they'll be~

                                                                               

 

The next morning Kento wakes up he regrets a few things.

First of all he can barely move his limbs. His whole body feels sore, especially his back, and his pounding headache isn’t helping his problems at all. He swears he will never drink alcohol ever again. But that isn’t the main problem.

He can clearly remember last night. Every single detail. He has slept with Fuma, and even though he has had the presumption that this might happen sooner or later, he hasn’t expected it to happen under these circumstances. He wishes he had been a little bit less drunk and a little bis less eager but maybe it also saved him a lot of embarrassment and pain.

However, the pain still hasn’t left. Kento feels like his soreness has simply replaced the alcohol in his system. And he has missed a great chance to fulfil his mission. He has promised himself if he can’t do it earlier, he will definitely finish him off during sex. But it feels like the one who had the whip hand over the other has been Fuma after all, not Kento.

The problem isn’t even his mission at all. What is more of a problem are his own emotions. Kento remembers his awkward confession and Fuma’s reply.

Kento shakes his head and a shiver creeps down his spine just at the thought of speaking so casually to Fuma. Admitting his feelings. Being real to himself.

He looks over to Fuma who for the first time hasn’t woken up before him. He’s facing the other side of the room and he’s breathing steadily and peacefully. Seems like last night has tired him out as well.

Kento carefully throws the blanket off of his bare body and manages to pick up his underwear and yukata to put some clothes on, all the while he feels a shooting pain in his back. The moment he wants to get off the bed though is when Fuma stops him by grabbing his wrist, almost giving Kento an unexpected heart attack.

„Where are you going?“, Fuma mumbles half-asleep and pulls Kento back onto the mattress, climbing over his body and trapping him between his arms.

„Umm, I just wanted to go take a shower...“, Kento replies as calm as possible.

„I see you got your senses back“, Fuma says dreamy-eyed. „I feel like before doing that you should go to our healer and take something against your headache, I don’t want you to faint in the shower.“

Kento is gently holding onto Fuma’s arms and his position reminds him of last night, his cheeks instantly turning red at the thought.

„I-I’ll do that. Should I get you something on my way there too?“

„No, it’s fine. I have to get up anyways, I have some work to do.“ Fuma leans back and lets Kento sit up again, properly putting the yukata around his body.

„Isn’t today a public holiday?“

„Well, you see, princes don’t really have holidays“, Fuma chuckles.

Kento cannot say the atmosphere between them is completely awkward, Fuma is still the same, always thinking of Kento’s well-being first, but neither of them address the confession and Kento doesn’t know if Fuma is thinking about it constantly like he does.

„I’ll get going first then“, Kento says quickly and walks towards the door.

He hastily throws Fuma a glance and sees his naked back while he’s sitting on the edge of the bed stretching his arms. Kento gulps and shakes his head once again before he disappears behind the door.

 

~~~~~

 

After getting some herbs against his headache and taking a very long hot shower, Kento feels like getting back into bed and just sleeping the whole day away. His aches feel better but if there’s a next time, he makes a mental note not to allow himself to drink so much.

Kento annoyingly scratches the back of his head while he walks through the corridors with new pairs of fresh clothes on him.

„Nakajima Kento?“ A servant stops him.

„Yes?“

„I have a letter for you.“

„A letter? From who?“, Kento asks as the guy hands him an envelope.

„I think you should look for yourself“, the guy says before bowing and leaving him alone again.

Kento opens the envelope and reads the piece of paper inside.

 _Meet me under the cherry blossom tree_ , is the only thing the piece of paper tells him. It doesn’t say who it is from but Kento guesses it must be Fuma since he has been the one who has shown him that beautiful piece of land.

 _Probably Fuma who wants to have a picnic outside again_ , Kento thinks to himself and smiles upon realising that Fuma can be pretty romantic as well, behind his rough shell.

Kento walks to the horse barn outside of the palace and lets a servant know that he is borrowing one of the royal horses, of course letting him know that it’s under prince Fuma’s orders.

He’s given a pretty black horse and Kento rides off to the countryside, following the same path that Fuma has taken last time.

After the long ride (Kento trying his best to ignore the pain in his back that started to ache even more while riding), Kento makes the horse slow down when he sees the tree not too far away from him. He decides to get down and walk the remaining few metres to get to the tree, but he’s wondering about why Fuma isn’t anywhere in sight.

A slight breeze is blowing and it’s gloomier than last time and Kento wonders why Fuma chose to call him over to this place today.

„You were fast.“ Kento startles and turns around when he hears the old familiar voice behind him.

„Matsushima?!“

Sou stands right in front of him and Kento has to rub his eyes to make sure. He still looks the same, only more grown up and more stern than the last time he has seen him. He has his own horse by his side, holding its reins and Kento can’t wrap his head around what’s going on right now.

„Are you surprised?“, he says and keeps a straight face.

„What are you doing here? How do you know about his place?“, Kento asks in panic and he turns around a few times, making sure there is really only the two of them.

„You are pretty naive if you think prince Sato trusts you hundred per cent. Of course he sent someone else to watch you to make sure you’re doing your job and not fooling around.“

Kento takes a step back and shakes his head. He really didn’t expect this at all. He thought in those four years in which he has served prince Sato that he has earned at least his fundamental trust. Although Kento knows how smart prince Sato is and that he would never do things without a plan B.

„That means... you know about this place because someone followed me and prince Kikuchi and watched us here?“

„Yes... But it wasn’t me. I can’t tell you much and I’m only here to bring you a message from prince Sato so please listen carefully because he is not having the best mood right now and he’s very serious.“

„Yes?“

Sou clears his throat before he continues. „He wants you to finish your job in 72 hours.“

Kento’s eyes widen in shock. „Three days? What will happen if I can’t do it? It’s not my fault that I cannot...“

Kento stops himself because he knows he can’t say the truth to Sou. Neither to prince Sato, nor to anyone from his old kingdom. They would see him as a traitor and maybe Kento starts seeing himself as one, accepting his fate as a failure.

„I know, it sounds harsh and it’s not something I would do, but I am just following orders. I cannot tell you anything else“, Sou says and climbs onto his own horse, looking down at Kento. „Just like you. So please, be successful and return home, okay?“

„Matsushima...!“ Kento wants to stop him but Sou seizes the rains and motions the horse to start moving, riding away.

There’s no point in riding to chase after him to ask more questions because Kento knows Sou is only doing his job and he wouldn’t have come to warn him if he didn’t really care for Kento.

Kento’s legs give in and he falls to his knees on the ground next to his horse. The earth beneath him feels so cold and Kento wishes he could become one with nature for once instead of having to deal with his life.

_It would be just too easy to have an enjoyable time, right?_

 

~~~~~

  
Kento returns to their bedroom that day later than usual.

He has tried his best to avoid Fuma throughout the whole day, his own mind already plaguing him enough. He has barely eaten and even though he’s tired he can’t close his eyes, not even for a second. He’s thinking about every possibility, every way and every decision he could make to find a solution to his problem but the more he thinks about it, the more he realises that there is only one solution after all.

Kento takes a deep breath before he slowly enters the bedroom, expecting Fuma to already be inside, but he’s met with an empty room.

It is about 8:00PM. Every time Kento has returned to their bedroom at that time, Fuma has already been there but this time he still didn’t come back.

 _Must be a rough day_ , Kento thinks to himself and closes the door behind him. His heart doesn’t stop beating hard though. _Just like mine._

Kento sits on the edge of Fuma’s bed and grabs the oil lamp on the nightstand to light it. Something on the nightstand catches Kentos attention. Something that glisters and sparkles in the faint light.

Before lighting the second lamp on the other side of the bed, Kento carefully moves away the papers and books from the nightstand, sighing in annoyance at the constant mess in Fuma’s room, especially around his bed.

But what he sees underneath the papers appears almost as a sign to Kento.

He finds his small golden knife right in front of him. Within his reach. He just needs to take it into his hands.

Kento carefully picks it up and looks at it like he’s seeing it for the first time. If only he has looked around Fuma’s bedroom some time earlier. He hasn’t thought that Fuma would just casually store it next to his bed.

Kento startles when he hears the door being opened. He quickly brings his hands behind his back and lets the knife slide into one of his back pockets, bringing it into his possession again and hiding it from Fuma.

„Oh, you’re already here“, Fuma says as he carefully closes the door behind him. He looks tired and Kento tries his best to look at him not as suspicious as he feels right now.

„Prince Fuma...“ Kento gets up from the bed and walks towards him until he’s standing right in front of him. Fuma’s gaze doesn’t drop and Kento as well finally feels confident enough to be the one who steps closer physically.

He puts his hands on Fuma’s chest and slides his hand down to the top button to unbutton Fuma’s fur jacket, working his way down.

„We need to talk, don’t we?“ Fuma says eventually. His voice sounds calm and soft, like honey for Kento’s ears.

Kento remains looking down to the floor when he unbuttons the last button and slides the jacket slowly off Fuma’s shoulders. He knew Fuma would say these words exactly. And he’s not scared of them.

What he’s scared of is himself.

„I don’t need words for what I have to tell you“, Kento says as he looks up.

Fuma doesn’t move but Kento puts his hands on Fuma’s shoulders and leans closer for a kiss.

Kento kisses him. He can feel by Fuma’s body language that he’s surprised at first but it doesn’t take him too long until his hands find rest on Kento’s waist to pull him closer.

Their kissing quickly deepens and Kento can feel Fuma’s tongue against his, his body slowly pushing him towards the bed. However, Kento lets his hands glide through Fuma’s hair down to his nape, wanting to feel him even more against his body.

Taking control of the situation, he somehow manages to turn around all the while his lips are glued to Fuma’s, making out passionately for a little while, but as soon as he’s able to part his lips to take a deep breath, he pushes Fuma down onto the mattress and instantly climbs onto him to straddle his lap.

„Someone seems to be really eager today, huh?“, Fuma chuckles while looking up at Kento who is sitting on his crotch, his hands on Fuma’s chest.

Kento’s mind is completely blank and his stare emotionless but he needs to take the initiative right now and finish what he has started.

He carefully undoes Fuma’s yukata to reveal his bare chest and leans down to give Fuma one last kiss on the lips before he proceeds.

Fuma’s plump lips taste like heaven but Kento thinks about dying. He thinks about if there is a heaven up there, it must feel like Fuma’s lips on his. But who is he kidding. He knows there is no heaven awaiting him.

While Kento has his lips pressed against Fuma’s, he reaches behind his back to pull out the knife from his back pocket, opening the blade with one single click sound.

Fuma doesn’t even seem to notice, his hands are on Kento’s knees but his body begins trembling.

Kento holds the knife so tightly that he thinks he’s bruising his own hand. He closes in for the kill, swinging the blade right to Fuma’s throat at the same time as he stops kissing him to lean back for his final move.

Small drops of liquid fall onto Fuma’s naked chest.

Kento is crying.

He can barely keep his eyes open and his vision is only blurred as he grabs the handle of the knife with his free hand to support his other shaking hand, pressing it a little more against Fuma’s throat.

His hands tremble tremendously and he has to hold himself back from bursting into tears although he forces his eyes shut, trying to control himself, but he cannot move his hands any further than that.

It just needs one swift motion to slit somebody’s throat but Kento just cannot move his hands past this point. It’s like he’s frozen on the stop.

By now Fuma would have had countless chances to counter-attack and defend himself, throwing Kento off of him but he doesn’t do anything. He just continues to stare at Kento who is holding the blade against his skin.

„Why don’t you just do it already?“

Kento doesn’t expect Fuma to say anything at all. If anything, he expects him to scream and shout, hit him, anything of the sort. But Fuma remains calm like Kento isn’t sitting there holding a dangerous weapon against his throat.

„...What?“ Kento chokes on his own words, the lump in his throat and the tears in his eyes preventing him from bringing out coherent words.

„I mean, why don’t you just kill me already?“, Fuma replies. „Like you planned it from the very beginning.“

Kento finally looks up at him in surprise.

„I’m not that dumb. When I found your knife at our first encounter... I knew you were lying about it. It’s not made by your father. The knife has a certain cherry blossom pattern that only the swordsmiths of royal families possess. I just needed to piece everything together... Prince Sato gave you the knife. And I’m very aware of what prince Sato’s plans are.“

Kento thinks this is it. Fuma nailed it. He has no excuse left, no lie he is able to tell. Fuma found out without any difficulties and Kento’s eyes widen in shock.

But something is still odd. Fuma still isn’t doing anything.

Fuma continues. „I’m sure you wonder why I didn’t confront you about it from the beginning. Well, I was waiting for you to tell me about it yourself. I knew the situation you were in and I wanted to see which decision you would make.“

That’s it. That’s all Kento needs to hear to be pushed over the edge. He can’t control his own body anymore and the tears automatically start flowing down his face.

He immediately lowers his face to prevent Fuma from seeing him in this state and finally moves his hands back, throwing the knife to the side and forming his hands into fists.

He cries like he has never cried before in his life. Throughout the four years of hard training he has learned to control his emotions and he cannot remember the last time he shed a tear for anyone or anything.

He has learned to hold back but why is it so hard to do it right now?

„Shouldn’t you be happy now that you finally don’t have to lie anymore?“, Fuma asks and Kento just cries even harder.

„I’m... I’m not crying because I’m worried about myself“, Kento chokes out in tears. „I’m crying because you’re still so nice to me even after finding out that I betrayed you from day one!“

Fuma looks at him in surprise. He really miscalculated Kento and his character in the end.

He sits up with Kento still on his lap and his head lowered, the tears flowing down his face in streams and his whole body shivering.

„I really fell for you along the way but you’re not supposed to love me back. Not because you’re a prince but because you’re Fuma. A person who has been so nice to me and protected me since the very beginning and a person who deserves someone better.“

Kento doesn’t hate Fuma at all. He can’t kill anyone, especially a person he truly loves. He doesn’t expect anything now. He has failed and he’s the worst. He cannot even face Fuma anymore.

„But I also fell for you from the beginning“, Fuma says and grabs Kento’s face to look into his tear-stained eyes. Fuma’s eyes are serious and his cheeks slightly pink but he holds Kento’s face firmly and wipes the tears away from Kento’s burning cheeks with his thumbs.

„I love you.“

Upon hearing that Kento just sobs even more and even louder and Fuma wraps his arms around his trembling body to pull him into an embrace.

„I love you, too“, Kento sobs muffled into Fuma’s neck and digs his fingers into his back. „I love you, I love you, I love you!“

Fuma holds his body tightly against his for a very long time until Kento stops shivering completely and finally relaxes and his breathing becomes even, matching Fuma’s.

„And you’re not allowed to tell me who I deserve and who I don’t“, Fuma mumbles against Kento’s hair, pressing a gentle kiss to his temple.

Kento doesn’t reply to that. He just smiles and Fuma can feel it against his skin.


	6. Chapter 6

__

 

 

_This must be what heaven feels like, right?_

Kento slowly opens his eyes in the early morning only to find himself balled up against Fuma’s warm body, facing his naked chest, and a light blanket covering them.

He twitches slightly, still in denial of everything that happened the day before. He closes his eyes, expecting to wake up from a beautiful dream once he opens them again. But no, Fuma is still there, right in front of him, his face buried in one of his pillows.

Fuma has one arm casually resting on Kento’s waist and Kento switches to prop himself up on his elbows, looking down at Fuma’s sleeping face.

Kento gently touches his cheek with the back of his fingers and moves a strand of dark hair behind his ear, when suddenly Fuma grabs his wrist and Kento yelps in surprise.

„What are you doing, Nakajima?“

„Ou-... How do you always manage to wake up before me?!“

Kento tries to move away but is unable of doing so, so instead he ends up wondering how Fuma finds the strength to hold him so early in the morning.

„Well, you were crying the whole night. It took you long to fall asleep“, Fuma replies with a yawn and finally lets go, so he can stretch his arms in order to wake up the rest of his body.

„I can’t believe you’re not mad at all“, Kento mumbles and turns away.

„I learned how to control my temper with time and I think I’ve been rough enough to you the day before yesterday.“ Fuma sits up on the edge of the bed.

„What will happen now?“, Kento asks, their backs turned to each other.

Fuma leans back and seems to think about that for a minute or two because there is no reply in the meantime.

„You can be my princess?“, Fuma says and laughs. „No, I don’t know. But seriously, we will see over time. Don’t worry about the future because I’m the boss in here.“

Kento doesn’t feel like laughing that much, although he cannot deny that Fuma always makes this cute remarks about him and he can’t help but at least smile a little.

He gets up and walks to the other side of the bed so he can face Fuma, standing right in front of him.

„No matter what, I’m really greatful that I am here with you“, Kento says and finally smiles genuinely. He is happy just seeing Fuma and hearing his warm voice and being able to feel his presence. He is so happy he doesn’t want anything else at this moment.

Kento blushes when he realises Fuma is sitting there in his underwear only, no shirt or whatsoever. He keeps staring at his perfectly defined chest with his mouth slightly open.

„Is something wrong...?“

Before Fuma is able to say something about getting his clothes or anything of the sort, Kento sits inbetween Fuma’s legs on the bed, strips the yukata off his slender shoulders and lets it fall behind his body. Now he has nothing covering his pale chest.

„Nothing is wrong. It’s far beyond that“, Kento whispers against Fuma’s skin and buries his head in the crook of his neck. He just pulls Fuma’s body closer to his and wraps his arms around his torso, smelling his perfume.

After a couple minutes of pure silence and as Kento clings to Fuma, Fuma holding himself back from getting aroused, Kento pulls back and looks Fuma in the eyes.

„Everything is perfect. You’re perfect and I’m... I’m sorry, I’m probably talking non-sense“, Kento mumbles and Fuma promptly cups his face in his hands, slightly squeezing his cheeks.

„No, you’re not“, Fuma says. „I told you that you’re beautiful and there’s nothing to be sorry for. Don’t be so harsh to yourself.“

Kento sighs, his hands tremble slightly when he tries not to dig his nails into Fuma’s skin. He doesn’t want to hurt him, never, he only wants Fuma forever, his everything. He wants to be selfish this time.

„Can you do me a favour?“, Kento asks and his pretty half-open eyes make Fuma lose the ability to think straight.

„Anything you want.“

Fuma expects anything, really, the most ridiculous requests. He is ready to do everything for Kento but what he doesn’t expect is Kento requesting something so simple and beautiful, something he is longing for as well.

„Kiss me.“

Kento’s voice is so low and small all of a sudden and Fuma just looks at him with surprise in his eyes. Out of all the things he could have asked he doesn’t expect that question to come. It has always been him taking the initiative and doing the first steps, it is surprising that Kento is the one this time.

Even though something in the back of Fuma’s mind tells him no, he shouldn’t hurt Kento again even if both their bodies long for it, he wants to do it. He feels like it is just the right moment.

„If you don’t-...“ Before Kento pronounces these words Fuma cuts him off.

He presses his lips against Kento’s and kisses him. He kisses him like he never kissed someone else before.

Kento kisses back, he loves how soft Fuma’s plump lips feel against his and how they complement each other. Kento tangles his fingers in Fuma’s messy hair and Fuma grips Kento’s waist.

Their kissing becomes sloppier the more their bodies grind against each other. Fuma has the upper hand most of the times, nibbling on his bottom lip. Kento feels the heat in his body pile up.

„Ahh...“ A small moan escapes Kento’s lips when he feels one of Fuma’s hands wander down to his hips, resting on his crotch.

„You’re hard“, Fuma whispers as he palms Kento through his underwear. His knees tremble as Fuma works his fingers along the shaft, slowly massaging the tip that already leaks pre-come. „And wet.“

Kento leans his head against Fuma’s shoulder and holds onto him for support, while Fuma’s hands carefully pull Kento’s underwear down. Kento is thankful that for now he doesn’t have to face Fuma, his face turning beet red instantly.

Kento whimpers against Fuma’s neck when his hand takes hold of his erection and starts palming it. Fuma makes sure to have little pauses inbetween, to make Kento buck his hips up longing for more friction. Occasionally he just lets his thumb slide over the tip and rubs the sensitive part. This makes Kento release even more cute mewls that send Fuma’s blood straight down to his dick.

Kento jerks forward in surprise when he feels Fuma’s other hand slide down his spine until he grabs the soft flesh of his buttocks. He feels hows Fuma’s fingers slip in-between his buttcheeks and circle around his twitching hole, a feeling he hasn’t experienced like that before, being completely sober this time.

„Prince F-Fuma....“

„Are you okay?“

„It...it feels so good“, Kento pants and wraps his arms around Fuma’s neck. While Kento muffles his voice in Fuma’s neck, Fuma grabs for the little bottle of coconut oil on his nightstand to use as lube.

Kento parts his legs even more to give Fuma easier access as he carefully pushes a lubed finger inside, passing through the first ring of muscles. He is more afraid of hurting Kento this time but as Kento gives no sign of resistance he pushes in deeper, earning another moan from Kento.

„Tell me if you feel uncomfortable“, Fuma says and cautiously pushes a second and third finger in, scissoring Kento’s insides. He is surprised Kento doesn’t complain at all so he guesses Kento is taking it well.

„Fuma, please“, Kento begs and hugs Fuma tighter. „No teasing anymore.“

Fuma pulls his fingers out and Kento sighs at the sudden emptiness so he leans back, looking into Fuma’s lustful shining eyes. Fuma pecks Kento’s nose playfully before he picks him up just to lay him down on his bed, Kento’s back meeting the mattress.

Without wasting time Fuma tosses his own underwear away and crawls in-between Kento’s spread legs with the small bottle of oil in his hands.

Kento can’t avert his gaze from Fuma, realising how huge he actually is now that he sees everything crystal clear and not blurred in a drunken state, and as if Fuma is able to read his mind he tells him softly: „I’ll be gentle.“

Fuma leans down to Kento’s chest and flicks his tongue around one of his nipples, taking one bud into his mouth, licking and softly biting on it. Kento’s whole body shivers and his voice trembles. He covers his mouth with the back of his hand.

„Your voice is beautiful, no need to hide it“, Fuma cooes as he pushes Kento’s hand away so instead he grips the sheets. „But relax, it’s going to feel a bit cold now.“

Finally Fuma coats his cock with the thick, smeary substance, and also smears some inbetween Kento’s buttocks at which Kento’s body twitches instantly because it does feel cold indeed.

He spreads Kento’s legs apart as far as he can and even puts a pillow under Kento’s back so he would raise him up a little more. Kento rests his head on the side, his hair falling over his tightly shut eyes. His heart is beating so fast, excited for what is about to come.

„Ready?“, Fuma asks as he positions himself between Kento’s legs.

Kento just nods and yelps when he feels Fuma push the head in. Kento can feel that he is being careful and gentle this time, he only moves when Kento’s body shows absolutely no resistance at all and Kento tries his best to relax.

Fuma groans when he pushes more of himself in, Kento’s walls swallowing him easily after he has had adjusted to his size. Now that he is fully in he leans down to kiss Kento, who still has his eyes shut.

Kento kisses back after a few seconds and Fuma finally moves, slowly pulling out just to push back in again, earning a louder moan from Kento this time.

Every time Fuma thrusts in Kento releases these erotic sounds that motivate him to go on. Very soon Fuma loses himself in pleasure and speeds up, his thrusts becoming deeper and faster. Kento just moans louder and thrashes his head from one side to the other.

„You’re mine. Only mine“, Fuma groans against the crook of Kento’s neck. „I love you so much.“

Kento wraps his legs around Fuma’s body, in hope to push him in deeper and digs his fingernails in Fuma’s buff back.

They are both close, the friction of Fuma’s toned stomach and his own against his dick becoming too much for Kento to handle and he screams as he comes. Shortly after Fuma pulls out and jerks himself off to release on Kento’s stomach with a loud groan, rubbing against Kento’s body as he leaves small kisses on his chest.

It feels so good to Kento, he is truly happy to be with Fuma.

„I love you too“, Kento mumbles a long while later, his smile disappearing from his face after Fuma cleans him up with a few tissues and carefully puts his clothes back on.

Kento feels like he has that big lump in his throat again when he says those words. He doesn’t want his voice to sound so heavy and sad but he can’t stop himself when suddenly he tears up, so he hides his face with his arms.

„What’s wrong?“, Fuma asks with concern as he leans over Kento again and touches his face. „Was I too harsh? Are you hurt?“

„No... I’m just so happy“, Kento replies with a sob. „And scared. Scared of losing you.“

„Oh, you’re scared because of Sato I guess?“ Fuma says with a snort. „I doubt he’s going to do anything... He’s just someone who barks all the time but doesn’t bite at all. Trust me.“

Fuma quickly pulls Kento up and holds him close in his embrace, almost squeezing the breath out of his lungs. He holds him so close, in hope his body will stop trembling and his breathing would calm down.

„And if something happens, I’ll be there to protect you.“

  
 

~~~~~

 

_„What does freedom mean to you?“, Kento has asked the day before._

_„It’s something you cannot put in words easily“, has been Fuma’s reply._

It’s morning again and Kento stands in front of the palace, waiting with a smile. Fuma has said to meet him there after breakfast because he needs to show him something.

Kento startles when a strange man with a mask over his mouth and a hoodie over his head suddenly appears next to him.

„It’s me“, Fuma says and of course Kento recognises that voice. He is wearing a jacket made out of leather and matching boots. The only thing he can see of his face are his sparkly eyes.

„You startled me“, Kento laughs. „Why are you dressed like that?“

„We’re going to town today“, Fuma says and stretches his hand out. „Of course, as a prince I’m not really up for people to recognise me and wonder what I’m doing out of the palace. People always get worried over nothing. And I want to enjoy my time alone with you.“

Kento is unsure of what to do but he puts his hand in Fuma’s and Fuma grabs it steadily, holding his hand from then on.

He holds it the entire time they walk through the town, the market place, small alleys, wide streets and watch as small children run past them, playing tag.

Kento can see Fuma tries not to look at anyone, afraid of being recognised but it’s okay because he can feel Fuma’s warmth spreading to his whole body while he’s dragging him along. And Kento is too busy with looking around town and fascinated by all the new things he sees that he doesn’t waste too much time on any other thoughts.

„I want to show you a place where I used to go fishing with my dad“, Fuma says as he keeps walking forward. „So I thought about walking along the river. It’s not far from here and the weather is perfect.“

Indeed, the sun is shining and it is pretty warm for November, too. The sun feels good on Kento’s skin, except that it is dazzling him as he tries to look around and get a view of everything.

The small town feels alive and for the first time Kento feels a sense of freedom within himself. He feels like there’s so much to explore that he has missed out on.

„We’re almost there.“

Kento sighs and keeps following Fuma who already starts walking towards the river not far away in sight in front of them. Fuma knows which way to go and which parts of the river aren’t too busy and too full with people, it seems like he has done research beforehand.

The roads get narrower and the old-fashioned houses closer to the river, small bridges of stone connecting one side with the other.

Fuma walks to the edge of the pavement and crouches down in front of the river. Kento follows him and sees that he leans over to reach the crystal clear water that is flowing silently.

„Are there any fish?“, Kento asks when he crouches down next to him and looks at the water, trying to find the spot Fuma is staring at.

„Maybe, but...“ It sounds like Fuma is surprised that Kento actually bent down to observe the water with him.

Kento expects a colourful fish to jump out but instead Fuma purposely splashes water with his hands and Kento closes his eyes shut when the water hits his face in surprise.

Just when he is about to open his eyes Fuma does it again and chuckles mischievously. For a second Kento questions his real age.

„Seriously!“, Kento screams at him and tries to push his now dripping wet hair back from his face, but Fuma still can’t hold a laughter back. „Are you out of your mind?!“

„Uh oh, you look angry.“

That is the sign for Fuma to run and so he does, with a big grin on his face. They both just end up running beside the river, Fuma stopping occasionally to look behind him and make sure that Kento is still trying to get back at him.

The only times Kento was running as fast as he is now was back then when he was in training. It never felt pleasant and it took him a long time to perfect his stamina but it is important to be able to run fast after all.

It never felt as good as it does today. It feels like he is free, like he can do anything. Today he has learned that running actually can feel very pleasant.

With every step he gets closer to Fuma, he feels like he can get a bit closer to his soul. Fuma’s personality is still a mystery to him and he wonders how someone can be this goofy and yet portray a very prince-like and serious character, but he feels like he will definitely get closer and closer.

Although Fuma is fast, Kento manages to catch up with him eventually since Fuma is laughing so much he almost loses his breath.

„Got you!“, Kento yells in triumph when he jumps up right behind him. He clings to his arm and refuses to let go, just like a koala bear. Fuma still laughs and struggles to get away from his grip but Kento can be very strong and stubborn too, so he gives in soon.

„Nakajima“, Fuma laughs and now it is him who holds Kento’s arms firmly as if he is afraid Kento is going to push him into the river beside them.

Kento doesn’t intend on letting go of him but just leans his head against his back and jerks slightly when he feels Fuma’s warmth on his skin.

„Don’t be mad at me, please.“ Fuma turns Kento around and wipes some water droplets off from his face with his thumb.

„I’m not mad“, Kento mumbles after a good minute of silence and looks at Fuma with puppy eyes. „You’re just being a bully, prince.“

„But you should have seen your face! It was hilarious“, Fuma says and pulls down the mask from his face, leans down and presses a quick kiss on Kento’s lips.

Kento grumbles but he cannot stay mad at Fuma for too long, especially after being mesmerised by his kisses.

They continue walking hand in hand for a while longer. The houses on each side disappear slowly and they walk along nature with trees and bushes and wide fields faraway in front of them and it feels like they walked so far, they would surely reach the sea soon.

„Hey, I need to ask you something“, Fuma says all of a sudden and they stop.

„Yeah?“

„I was actually thinking about our future a lot and... I know how talented and skilled you are and it would be a waste if I don’t support you in that matter. I mean, it would be nice if you want to work as my personal royal guard.“

Kento’s eyes widen. He doesn’t expect such an offer at all. He knows what an honour it is and how much trust there is needed to let an armed guard work with the prince during day and night.

„W-what?“

„That way you can be with me everywhere I go and you’re not allowed to leave my side“, Fuma says with a smirk and rests his hands on Kento’s waist to pull him a little closer. „But I want you to make that decision for yourself. I’m not asking you that as my slave. I’m asking you as a free man with a free will. You have the chance to leave this place forever now, if you want to.“

Kento looks up to Fuma and he can see it in his eyes, the more he waits with his reply, the more uncertainty shows in them. He’s legitimately scared of Kento leaving him and Kento can feel his heart beat faster just at the thought of having to go.

„Yes“, Kento only manages to spit out and Fuma looks at him doubtfully. „I mean yes to your offer. I do want to be with you forever.“

Fuma snorts. „Why do you have to make it so damn cheesy?“

Kento blushes instead. „Why me?! You blurted that out all of a sudden and made it sound like you’re asking me to marry you!“

„I can’t ask to marry you just like that. I didn’t test out your cooking abilities yet“, Fuma says jokingly and earns a playful punch by Kento on his chest instead.

„I really can’t with you sometimes. I wish I could see things that easily and make a joke out of everything.“

„Maybe some of it will rub off on you with time. Anyways, here’s a key“, Fuma says and takes Kento’s right wrist to put a small key into the palm of his hand. „Not the key to my heart but that key opens the armoury, the room where I keep all my weapons. I got an expensive katana sword made specially for you. Unfortunately I have a sudden appointment soon so you’ll have to go alone, but you’ll find it.“

Kento rolls his eyes and then stares at the key in his hands and smiles. He can finally get back to his old passion, which was the art of sword fighting.

„I knew that would make you happy.“ Fuma smirks.

 _No, you are making me happy_ , is what Kento wants to say but he cannot find the right words so he just flings his arms around Fuma’s neck.

 

~~~~~

 

When returning back to the palace, Kento returns alone. He holds the little key tightly in his hands and asks a servant for directions to find the way to the armoury.

After finally getting to the right room he slowly opens the huge stone door and enters inside. The room is quite dusty and there’s only little light coming from a small window on the ceiling.

There’s an envelope not far from him him lying next to a katana in its sheath and Kento picks it up. The small piece of paper reads _designated for Nakajima Kento._

Kento carefully takes the sword into his hands and pulls it out of its sheath, admiring the shiny blade in front of him. He can clearly see the sword’s worth by the way it is made and he squeals silently, he has never seen such a beautiful sword in his life before.

Before wasting more time on staring at the weapon, he carefully puts it back in its sheath and attaches it to his waist belt.

Trying to find his way back wasn’t that easy though so Kento decides to use a shortcut and just leave the palace through one of the side exits. He walks down a small alley until all of a sudden he hears footsteps behind him and stops.

„Who would have thought that I’ll see you again so soon?“

Kento feels a cold shiver creep down his spine and he turns around immediately. It’s his worst nightmare come true. But he doesn’t expect it to hit him so suddenly.

Kento opens his mouth to say something but he’s frozen on the spot, staring right back at Shori.

Something about Shori has changed. Of course he is wearing common clothes and he looks quite dirty and exhausted, scratches all over his face, the only thing Kento recognises is his blue headband.

But it is something else.

Shori has never been a soft character but his face looks completely cold and merciless this time. Kento almost doesn’t believe it’s really him.

„Prince Sato...“

Without being able to form a proper sentence, Kento jumps at Shori’s reaction of drawing his own sword from its sheath and running towards him without a warning, trying to hit him with the blade.

Thanks to Kento’s quick reflexes he manages to draw his own sword as well and pulls the blade against Shori’s just at the last second. If he had been inattentive for a second longer he would have been sliced in half by now.

„I’ve trained you and gave you so much but you decide to betray me in the end“, Shori hisses at Kento’s face and puts his whole body weight towards the blade.

„It’s not like that!“

„Don’t think you can win against someone who taught you everything!“

 _No, that’s not true,_ Kento thinks to himself and images of his father flash before his eyes. The first person that allowed him to hold such a dangerous but glorious weapon.

„It will be over the sooner you give up. And less painful!“, Shori yells at the top of his lungs and pulls back to make another attempt.

He strikes the katana at Kento and Kento tries his best to strike back but Shori is stronger and more skilled, Kento doesn’t see a chance to fight back. All he does is dodge him and clash sword against sword, and that is already considerably difficult.

Shori is a level above him. Still.

„Please!“, Kento pleads as he takes a step back. „Let’s sort things out in peace. Let us not end this in death!“

„I don’t think there’s another solution.“

It takes one second for Kento to not be careful enough, just one second for his body to miscalculate Shori’s body movements and for Shori to strike again.

Kento feels the blade graze the skin on his right upper arm, and he’s lucky that it’s only a graze and Shori hasn’t managed to stab through his arm, but from then on everything happens too fast.

The sudden burning sensation on his arm is too much to bear and he instinctively drops his own katana, the blade making a loud jarring noise as it hits the stone floor.

Kento instantly grabs his open wound with his left hand and it stings even more, realising there’s blood all over his hand now, but he has to move on, he has to protect Fuma and himself, Fuma in the first place.

But how can he do that when he cannot even save himself?

And when Kento kneels down and desperately reaches for his katana again, hoping his mistake doesn’t mean it’s the end for him, Shori kicks him in the chest with his leather boots and jumps onto his body to straddle him in an instant.

Kento hits his back on the ground roughly and Shori pushes him down with his body weight forcefully, his other free hand around Kento’s neck already to keep him down and in place.

There’s no way Kento can reach his katana from this position, nor fight Shori with his bare hands while Shori is holding a deadly weapon.

It’s over.

„I don’t have time for any last words“, Shori says and reaches back so he can plunge his sword right into Kento’s chest. „Let’s get it over with.“

Kento squinches his eyes shut as much as he can. He doesn’t want Shori to be the last thing to see before he leaves.

He has never been scared of death. He knows it awaits him sooner or later, and if it happens now, then that will be it.

_I’m sorry. I have failed._

He devotes his last thought to Fuma, and he smiles.

Kento smiles and waits for the final hit. He knows it will be painful, he knows it won’t be pleasant. But he feels nothing.

_Is it already done?_

Kento opens his eyes when all of a sudden he hears another loud noise. Shori has dropped his sword on the ground next to their bodies.

Kento cannot believe his own eyes. Shori didn’t do anything because he can’t anymore. His hands are shaking and there’s blood gushing out of his left shoulder.

There’s an arrow sticking out from the back of Shori’s shoulder. Someone shot him.

Shori tries to stop his wound from bleeding but his own hand and clothes are already soaked in his blood in mere seconds. Kento has never seen so much blood before. He doesn’t even realise some of it has splattered onto his own face.

But it’s not his blood. It’s Shori’s.

Suddenly Kento cannot even think about his own wound anymore. Shori is bleeding out in front of him and Kento startles when he hears him gasping for air and choking on his own coughs, his body losing balance and falling back eventually.

Kento catches his body in the right moment, preventing him from having the arrow impaled even deeper into his shoulder. He doesn’t know why or what is happening to him right now, but he feels that obligatory feeling that he has to help Shori somehow.

Kento looks behind them and sees Fuma at the end of the alley with bow and arrow in his hands. Fuma has saved him.

And Kento feels more than happy for that, he could start crying immediately. But Shori is bleeding in his arms and he absolutely doesn’t know what to do, still stuck in a state of trauma.

„Don’t“, Shori coughs and blood spills from his lips. „It’s over. Let me die.“

„What?!“

Kento cannot believe what he’s hearing. He expects Shori to beg him to spare his life, save him, beg for forgiveness... anything. But not that.

„I don’t want to be prince. I never wanted to.“ Slowly Shori’s eyes close and Kento grips his body tighter. „I just want to die.“

„Well, too bad I won’t grant you that wish“, Fuma says all of a sudden as he stands right in front of them and Kento looks up at him with tears in his eyes, still in shock.

„I purposely aimed for your shoulder only to wound you enough so you’re unable to hurt Nakajima.“

Fuma’s facial expression is stern and his voice deep. He sounds hurt and angry and Kento has never seen him like that before, although all he wants to do is fall into his embrace and cry.

Shori doesn’t reply to that anymore.

„F-Fuma he needs help or he’s going to bleed out...!“

Kento is seriously worried. He doesn’t want to witness someone die in his arms even if it’s Shori, the one who tried killing him off in the first place.

„Don’t worry, I already called my best healers over to treat you“, Fuma says as he crouches down next to Kento. „But you too. You’re injured.“

Fuma puts the bow aside, cuts off a part of his silk clothing with a small pocket knife and carefully wraps it around Kento’s still open wound, Kento only giving a wince of pain.

„He can’t die...“, Kento mumbles.

They both know what is going to happen if Shori really dies. There’s going to be war between the two kingdoms and Fuma will be forever branded as the merciless murderer all across Asia.

Kento can’t let that happen only because Fuma had to save him.

„Everything is going to be alright. I’m just glad I arrived before something worse happened“, Fuma says and grabs Kento’s blood-covered hand.

Kento decides to believe in Fuma’s words and hope for the best.

 

~~~~~

 

Kento feels a stinging pain mixed with an itch on his upper arm when he wakes up. It’s not as bad as it has been before but he still feels it.

„You’ve been sleeping for a really long time, it’s almost dawn“, Fuma says and Kento realises he’s lying down in a bed, Fuma sitting on the edge. „I was worried.“

„...what?“, Kento mumbles and sits up. He sees someone has taken care of his wound and he now has a bandage around his arm. There’s also no traces of blood anymore, Fuma having given him fresh clothes to wear.

But somehow Kento barely remembers how he managed to get into this bed and how long it took to clean his wound. Everything that has happened is blurry in Kento’s mind. He doesn’t even remember how much time has really passed.

„How do you feel now?“

„I’m fine. It was only a scratch anyways“, Kento replies. „But what about you? You saved me... I was so scared.“ _I was so scared of losing you._

„Nothing happened to me. And you were the one who saved _me_.“

„Huh?“

„It seems like I didn’t have any appointment yesterday, Sato set it up so he could meet me alone in town and kill me. But on his way there he accidentally crossed paths with you.“

Kento’s eyes widen in surprise. He protected Fuma in the end after all.

„If you weren’t there he would have probably succeeded. When I arrived at the meeting place I was suspicious because no one was there, so I asked my new secretary what it was all about and she told me I had no appointment... So I rushed to you because I had a bad feeling about all of this, and I heard someone shouting outside of the palace...“

Before Kento can reply anything, he throws his arms around Fuma’s neck and pulls him in for a kiss.

He cannot believe he is able to still do that. To feel Fuma’s lips on his. It’s almost like he has been dreaming and he woke up in heaven.

When he pulls back to catch his breath again Fuma looks at him wide-eyed. „What was that for...?“

„Love is the best medicine after all.“

„Ew. Stop saying those cheesy lines“, Fuma says and turns his head to hide the fact that he’s blushing. „By the way, Sato is fine. He’s breathing properly again and a healer removed the arrow from his shoulder. He even woke up before you, which is like, almost a miracle.“

Kento lets out a sigh of relief.

„Do you feel like you’re ready to go talk to him with me? Since you know him better than me after all.“

Kento nods and Fuma pecks his cheek quickly.

„And I need someone holding me back from punching Sato in the face.“

 

~~~~~

  
 

Fuma holds Kento’s hand tightly when they arrive in front of the room Shori is resting in. Two of Fuma’s guards are standing in front of the door, making sure no one gets inside, nor out. Just in case Shori tries to do anything risky.

But it seems to be quiet in the room and the guards step aside when Fuma motions them to, opening the door for Fuma and Kento, closing them carefully behind them again.

Kento immediately notices Sou crouching in front of the bed Shori is lying in. It seems like he has been crying, his cheeks are red and puffed up, and the dark circles under his eyes indicate that he hasn’t slept the entire night.

„Matsushima...“, Kento mumbles and Sou startles, turning around to face him.

Seeing Fuma right next to him, Sou gets up almost instantly and bows as low as possible several times, showing his respect and gratitude to Fuma for allowing them to be in his kingdom.

„I’m deeply sorry for everything that has happened!“, he shouts. „I know I said it a million times already but I really truly apologise and I hope you can forgive us this one time.“

„That’s not up to me, Nakajima is the one who was wounded, not me“, Fuma says casually and Kento takes turns in looking at them in surprise.

„Me? I don’t want to cause more trouble...for either one of you“, Kento says and Sou sighs, taking a step aside 

It’s silent for a moment.

Shori looks really beaten and weak. His complete shoulder is covered in bloody bandages and he can barely move. His face looks pale and empty and he doesn’t face any of them, but instead looks to nowhere in particular.

„I’m sorry too“, Shori says in a low voice and coughs a few times.

Kento can clearly hear that he has given up completely and that he’s humiliated. Shori definitely isn’t a threat anymore.

„I hope you’re aware of what has happened“, Fuma speaks up angrily and looks at Shori. „I could keep you here, locked up forever if I wanted to, but I don’t want that. I’ll let you go again but only on one condition.“

„It’s okay. I get it“, Shori says. „I’ll do whatever you want.“

„Look... we shouldn’t keep following our ancestor’s footsteps if that means to keep hating on each other. Just because our families fought each other a long time ago doesn’t mean that we have to. Our empires can both coexist in peace.“

Shori finally turns his head to look at Fuma. Even Kento is surprised at Fuma’s own words. He wouldn’t have believed Fuma would react this calm.

„You are really something“, Shori says with a laugh and coughs instantly. „A true prince after all.“

„And you shouldn’t be afraid of loving someone just because they don’t have any royal blood in them“, Kento adds out of nowhere, side-eying Sou who turns his head away instantly.

„I’ll try my best“, Shori replies before Sou can jump in. „What else can I say anyways? You defeated me fair and square, Nakajima. Again. Your father taught you many good techniques that I never thought about using before.“

„I know prince Sato cannot get on his knees right now to thank you properly but let me do it instead“, Sou says and kneels in front of Kento. „Thank you for everything. And thank you for letting us stay here until prince Sato recovers.“

„Matsushima, get up... It’s okay“, Kento says with a smile. „We can still be friends, alright? Like in the good old days.“

„I’m glad we can all agree on something for once“, Fuma throws in. „Just to make sure, before you guys go back I’ll let one of my accountants prepare a peace treaty for prince Sato to sign. Once and for all.“

„Alright“, Shori says and turns his head back to look at the other corner of the room.

Kento wishes he could look inside of his head and tell what he’s truly thinking about. What really moved him to do the things he has done, and why he was so keen on dying.

„Alright, then we will let you guys rest again. You should get some sleep“, Fuma says and clears his throat before motioning Kento to leave the room again.

As soon as the door closes behind them again and they are out in the hallway, Kento turns to Fuma.

„Where are we going?“, he asks in a whisper when Fuma walks past the guards and drags him along.

„To the roof“, Fuma replies and they walk up a wooden staircase Kento never noticed before that leads them to the big terrace on the palace’s roof.

Nothing special can be found there but the view over the whole town is mesmerising and the sun is just about to rise.

The sky has that perfect pretty colour mixed with dark blue and pink and Kento walks towards the edge of the railing. The fresh morning breeze feels so nice on his skin and he closes his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath and letting the moment sink in.

„Kento, I have to tell you something and I don’t want to wait any longer, waiting for a perfect moment. Because every moment is perfect with you“, Fuma says as quick as he can while he rummages around in his jacket’s pockets and Kento giggles, noticing how obviously nervous Fuma is getting all of a sudden.

„I wanted to have a big celebration next week to officially make you my personal guard and let everyone else know that you’re going to be part of the court nobility.“

Fuma stretches his hand out and holds a small necklace in front of Kento. A small diamond piece dangles on the golden necklace and it glisters in the morning sun.

„I want to give you this and hope you accept it as a sign of my love to you. B-because rings are stupid and overrated anyways.“

Kento bursts out laughing. „Is this a proposal? If so, you’re doing a terrible job at it.“

„No! I mean... Proposals are overrated as well. You should know what I feel about you.“

„I think when it comes to cheesy lines... You should leave that part to me“, Kento says and beams with joy. „But yes, I accept you, prince Fuma.“

Kento smiles and lowers his head slightly so Fuma can put the necklace around his neck properly.

„It looks pretty on you“, Fuma says although he stares at Kento’s beautiful face illuminated by the morning light and not at his necklace.

Just right before the sun rises completely, he leans forwards to kiss Kento on the lips and Kento kisses back, sealing their invisible love contract.

It has been tough but not impossible. Kento knows that as long as he can stay by Fuma’s side, he can overcome every obstacle in the future.  
  
  
_And so they both lived happily ever after._

 

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you for reading and leaving nice comments! It was really fun writing this story especially since I had the ideas in my head for such a long time. I hope you like the ending even though it seems kind of rushed to me.
> 
> Anyways, I would like to write a side story in the same AU and in the same timeline but about Sou in Shori's kingdom with ShoriSou as the main pairing. If you paid close attention to the story I think you may have noticed that I left some questions open and I want to explain why I made Shori's character the way he is (I needed a villain obviously but... I don't want people to think Shori is completely evil ;A; orz) So, when I have the time I will write that but I'll most likely do it as a one-shot. That's all, thanks again. ♡
> 
> EDIT: The side story is called "Promise me forever" and is published on my page now (:


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